12:40 Ludlow

Wednesday 5 December 2018

All12:1012:4013:1013:4514:1514:5015:20

Vobe Electrics Novices' Handicap Chase

Off time: 12:40 | Winning time: 5m 23.6s

Longhousesignora³⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 12-4| J: Charlie Deutsch| T: Miss V Williams| OR: 106

3/1

Rallied under pressure to finish fourth of ten (beaten 6L) on chasing debut at Bangor (2m4f, good) in October; wouldn't be at all inconvenienced by the forecast rain; ran her best race over hurdles at this track (2m5f+, soft) in April.

Form: 45427-4

Bolving³⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: C Gethings| T: V R A Dartnall| OR: 100

7/2

Demonstrated a reasonable level of form over hurdles (0-5) with some of his strongest efforts coming at another right-handed track (Kempton); soft ground holds few concerns; bled from the nose when finishing behind Longhousesignora on chasing debut.

Form: 4/0042-6

Ask Catkin¹⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Benjamin Poste| T: T Symonds| OR: 100

5/1

Somewhat of a Ludlow regular over hurdles (has competed here on three previous occasions); beaten 6½L by Premier Rose (third) on seasonal reappearance at Uttoxeter (2m4f), and now switched to the larger obstacles for the very first time.

Form: 54450-3

Ortenzia^t¹⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 11-11| J: Paul O'Brien⁽³⁾| T: C E Longsdon| OR: 106

20/1

Made a winning start over fences when scoring by 1½L at Bangor (2m1f, good) in October but things haven't quite gone according to plan since; with possible reasons to believe that she could prove effective over a longer trip, she's not discounted.

Form: 74713U

Nomination Game^h¹⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 11-9| J: J E Moore| T: R Dickin| OR: 97

33/1

Very few positives to be drawn from his most recent hurdles efforts (2m-2m3f Hereford); sent over fences for the first time since his Irish PTP days (0-1), he'll be needing to curb his early free-racing tendencies.

Form: P6-P643

Gold Bonne Raine²⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 10-13| J: Adam Wedge| T: Evan Williams| OR: 87| BF

14/1

14-race maiden over hurdles, but with plenty of placed form in the book (87-rated); better than the finishing position implies at Fontwell latest (made a late mistake and didn't stay the 3m2f trip); place chance on chasing debut.

Form: 4/36325

Muilean Na Madog²²

Age: 7| Weight: 10-9| J: Daniel Hiskett⁽⁵⁾| T: D G Bridgwater| OR: 83

33/1

Six-race maiden over hurdles, and finished tailed-off on his first attempt at this trip at Huntingdon last month; precious little to enthuse over on paper ahead of his chasing debut.

Form: PP/B477

Ruby Russet^t⁸⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 10-8| J: H Cobden| T: C L Tizzard| OR: 82WS

6/1

Now a 17-race maiden (0-3 over fences); her best run over the larger obstacles came on her penultimate start at Fontwell (2m3f+, good) when beaten 9L by Turban; a surprise if she proves strong enough in order to shed the maiden.

Form: 700425

Shininstar¹⁵

Age: 9| Weight: 10-2| J: Miss L Brooke⁽⁷⁾| T: J Groucott| OR: 76

3/1

0-8 over fences and continuing on a downward spiral in the weights; a clear round of fencing looks almost guaranteed, but was again nowhere near strong enough at the business end of the race when finishing 15L third at Southwell (2m4f, good) latest.

Form: 5-33533

Forecasts

Shininstar (3/1), Longhousesignora (3/1), Bolving (7/2), Ask Catkin (5/1), Ruby Russet (6/1), Gold Bonne Raine (14/1), Ortenzia (20/1), Muilean Na Madog (33/1), Nomination Game (33/1)

There's plenty of holes to pick in the form of the majority of these runners and whilst it's still early days for some over fences, this is undoubtedly a weak and very winnable race. Ortenzia could prove effective over this longer trip (essentially is a shade one-paced at the minimum). Gold Bonne Raine is still to visit the winners enclosure over hurdles and would appear to hold place prospects at best on her chasing debut, so we'll side with the top-weight LONGHOUSESIGNORA. She probably needed the race on her chasing debut at Bangor and won't be at all inconvenienced by today's greater test of stamina (should the forecast rain arrive).