14:25 Haydock

Wednesday 5 December 2018

All12:2012:5013:2013:5514:2515:0015:30

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Off time: 14:25 | Winning time: 4m 44.10s

Taxmeifyoucan^b1³²

Age: 4| Weight: 11-12| J: B S Hughes| T: K Dalgleish| OR: 134| C

12/1

Good and heavy ground winner over hurdles has been somewhat inconsistent since. Good flat third after a break followed by last of seven over hurdles latest. Blinkers now tried and could be the missing link to unlocking his potential.

Form: 1U130-7

William Of Orange^b,t²⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 11-11| J: Lorcan Murtagh⁽³⁾| T: D McCain Jnr| OR: 133| C

17/2

Course winner in May (2m) and won twice since. Found life tougher last three but fourth to well handicapped sort latest and now only 1lb higher than last win so claims here with all ground coming alike.

Form: 161554

Secrete Stream²²²

Age: 9| Weight: 11-7| J: Mr Aiden Blakemore⁽⁷⁾| T: Ruth Jefferson| OR: 129

12/1

Back after yet another break after finishing last term with a close third of five at Perth. Returns here on last winning mark although that came in 2016 and only raced six times in last four years so evidently hard to keep sound.

Form: 14/5353-

Envol De La Cour¹⁷³

Age: 4| Weight: 11-6| J: J McGrath| T: Henry Oliver| OR: 128

20/1

Imported from France where he won three out of five starts (one hurdle, two chases). Hard to gauge this opening mark particularly given last hurdle came in August 2017 but not been set the toughest task here so is respected.

Form: 411-41

Nayati²¹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-4| J: Wayne Hutchinson| T: A King| OR: 126

6/1

Won first two hurdle races for this yard last term and looked likely to soon add to that when a promising third on return at Chepstow in October but failed to perform at that level next at Exeter. Potential if he can bounce back.

Form: 118-36

Minella Charmer¹⁰⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 11-3| J: Sean Quinlan| T: James Moffatt| OR: 125

66/1

Not won since January 2016 with performances blighted by jumping errors as he has fallen five times in his last eight races. Pulled-up latest at Cartmel when seemingly didn't stay 3m1½f. Risky proposition for certain.

Form: F/F6F-FP

Billingsley²³⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: R Johnson| T: A Ralph| OR: 124

4/1

Dual Chepstow novice winner on heavy ground last term in final two starts. Form not working out particularly well but was particularly impressive in the most recent so looks an interesting newcomer to handicaps and rates a leading player here.

Form: 34/011-

Becky The Thatcher^p¹⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: Billy Garritty⁽¹⁰⁾| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 122

11/2

Not beaten far when fourth returned to this, her last winning mark latest at Wetherby. Acts on most ground so should run a solid race and has each-way potential here.

Form: 147P-64

Idilico²⁷

Age: 3| Weight: 10-3| J: T J O'Brien| T: Ian Williams| OR: 126| BF

5/1

Former French trained gelding made a winning start over hurdles at Uttoxeter despite errors at the last two flights. Again jumping not perfect next when he finished second next at Market Rasen. Very unexposed and has to be respected here.

Form: 12

Vocaliser¹⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-1| J: J M Quinlan| T: R Dickin| OR: 109

11/2

Four-time chase winner returned to hurdling in a hot Cheltenham contest latest and was 16th of 20 at 50/1. Hurdles mark 9lb lower than chases but none from 11 in this code so of limited appeal.

Form: 1315P-0

Non-Runners

Champagne City¹³⁷

Weight: 11-12| Age: 5

T: T R George J: N D Fehily

Forecasts

Billingsley (4/1), Idilico (5/1), Becky The Thatcher (11/2), Vocaliser (11/2), Nayati (6/1), Champagne City (6/1), William Of Orange (17/2), Secrete Stream (12/1), Taxmeifyoucan (12/1), Envol De La Cour (20/1), Minella Charmer (66/1)

BILLINGSLEY got the hang of things over hurdles towards the end of last season and enters handicaps with potential for more improvement and the champion jockey is booked which indicates expectations here first time out, he gets the nod. Juvenile Idilico is the most feared rival off a feather weight and he has plenty of potential to improve given his jumping has been imperfect in both starts so far. Envol De La Cour is hard to gauge but this new import has to be considered an interesting contender as a winner of three of his five French starts.