15:30 Sandown

Friday 7 December 2018

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

JLT Group Novices' Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 15:30 | Winning time: 4m 23.80s

Thistimenextyear^h⁴¹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-12| J: James Bowen| T: R Spencer| OR: 115| BF

5/2

Reverts to hurdling following a spell on the Flat which yielded a 1m2f win at Windsor (good to soft); allocated an opening jumps handicap mark of 115; runner-up at Market Rasen (2m1f, good) when last appearing over obstacles in April; chance.

Form: F22-

My Brother^h²¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-10| J: R T Dunne| T: N P Mulholland| OR: 113

2/1

79-rated on the Flat (handled cut); has progressed with each of his four starts over hurdles, culminating in a career best when finishing a keeping on second to Red Hot Chilly at Cheltenham (2m, good) three-weeks ago; races off a 4lb higher mark.

Form: 2432

Alcanar³¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-9| J: Lee Edwards| T: A W Carroll| OR: 112

12/1

12-race maiden under all codes (55-rated on the Flat); hasn't raced over hurdles since his juvenile days in 2016/17 and a handicap mark of 112 wouldn't appear to be overly generous; look elsewhere.

Form: 344/

Primal Focus^t1²³

Age: 4| Weight: 11-7| J: D F O'Regan| T: Christian Williams| OR: 110

8/1

Beaten 5L on hurdles debut by the now 125-rated He's A Goer (Warwick) and has had valid excuses since including at Cheltenham (grade) and Exeter (trip); sports a first time tongue-tie; ideally wouldn't want too much more rain.

Form: 2335F5

Ulysses^p²⁵⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 11-6| J: David Bass| T: F Brennan| OR: 109

20/1

65-rated on the Flat (0-6) but in truth has offered a fraction more over hurdles, despite remaining a maiden (0-4); best performance came when finishing 21L third (100/1) to Apple's Shakira in Cheltenham's Triumph Hurdle Trial in January.

Form: 4235-

Kestrel Valley^h²⁶⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 11-3| J: Stan Sheppard⁽³⁾| T: M Sheppard| OR: 106

20/1

Her dam Lady Karinga was a 2m5f hurdles winner and this filly has done okay over obstacles herself in a light racing career thus far; opening mark of 106 probably fair and she can win races at some point in the future (over further).

Form: 5734-

Shaw's Cross^h¹⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-11| J: T J O'Brien| T: P Henderson| OR: 100

9/2

Former Irish racer (for Edward O'Grady); back from a five-month absence and relatively close to breaking the maiden tag (beaten 10L) so to speak on stable debut at Fontwell (2m3f) 19-days ago; drop back in trip not an immediately obvious move.

Form: 78-0782

Malangen^p,t¹⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 10-0| J: David Noonan| T: D Pipe| OR: 102

12/1

Hasn't really progressed since making a fair start to his hurdling career; albeit hasn't necessarily been helped by racing over trips in excess of 2m2f; fell (when beaten) on his most recent appearance and eases ever so slowly in the weights.

Form: 42253F

Non-Runners

Vlannon¹⁹

Weight: 10-4| Age: 3

T: M Madgwick J: M Goldstein

Forecasts

My Brother (2/1), Thistimenextyear (5/2), Shaw's Cross (9/2), Primal Focus (8/1), Vlannon (10/1), Malangen (12/1), Alcanar (12/1), Kestrel Valley (20/1), Ulysses (20/1)

Not a race for strong opinions and a relatively low-key conclusion to an otherwise interesting Sandown card. Kestrel Valley is a filly who is worth keeping an eye upon for the future, as she's probably capable of winning races from a mark in the low 100's when upped in trip. With little towards the foot of the weights making any significant appeal, the safest play is probably MY BROTHER who took an all too obvious step forward over hurdles at Cheltenham three-weeks ago.