13:35 Kelso

Sunday 9 December 2018

All12:0012:3013:0513:3514:1014:4015:15

Andersons Award Winning Butcher North Berwick Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 13:36 | Winning time: 3m 53.1s

Empire De Maulde²³

Age: 4| Weight: 11-12| J: B S Hughes| T: J Ewart| OR: 109

9/1

4-6 in French bumpers (1m1f-1m4f) prior to joining James Ewart; most likely appreciated the sounder racing surface at Newcastle (2m) when finishing over 10L third to Weather Front latest; stiff mark for handicap debut.

Form: 21144-3

Newstart^t¹⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-7| J: Thomas Willmott⁽⁷⁾| T: K Scott| OR: 104| CD

11/1

Bought for £8,000 after winning a good-ground Hexham seller in May (for Brian Ellison); slipping slowly back down the weights and still early days wearing the tongue-tie; riders 7lb claim helpful.

Form: 63-1409

Ballynanty^t¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-6| J: Lucy Alexander| T: N W Alexander| OR: 103

16/1

Yet to necessarily suggest that he's capable of winning over hurdles (0-5), but he was a Flat winner for Andrew Balding in 2015 and it remains early days for in-form handler Nick Alexander.

Form: 000-55

Thepensionfund⁵⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 11-5| J: T Scudamore| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell| OR: 102

14/1

Stablemate of Prince Dundee; beaten 7L (third) by Idee De Garde on debut in an Ayr bumper in January; hasn't kicked on since over hurdles and an opening handicap mark of 102 looks tough.

Form: 3-45P

Xpo Universel^t,v⁷^{(ex 7)}

Age: 9| Weight: 11-4| J: Aaron Anderson⁽⁷⁾| T: R Menzies| OR: 94

7/4

Rebecca Menzies deserves some credit for the way she's handled this once frustrating 9yo; made it 2-75 when winning by 12L (for this rider) at Carlisle (2m1f, heavy) last week; respected under a 7lb penalty.

Form: 216381

Bogardus⁶¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-2| J: J Kington| T: A Crook| OR: 99

50/1

Competes over hurdles for the first time since December 2017 (0-4); has left the care of Lawrence Mullaney since running on the Flat at Catterick in October; others preferred.

Form: 3/060-

No Boundaries^h³⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: Callum Bewley| T: S Waugh| OR: 99

14/1

No boundaries, and no singles either; remains win-less (0-7 over hurdles) with precious few obvious signs that will be changing anytime soon; not considered.

Form: 704F-00

Jokers And Rogues³⁴⁸

Age: 10| Weight: 11-1| J: C O'Farrell| T: Kenneth Slack| OR: 98| CD

16/1

C&D winner (soft) off a 6lb higher mark in April 2016; has rather lost his way since then; only of interest if the market speaks positively on return from a near 12-month absence.

Form: P64/P54-

Wishing Well¹⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 10-13| J: Alain Cawley| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 96| D

33/1

Hasn't seen much action over hurdles in recent times (0-5) but despite a slowly falling handicap mark, it's nigh impossible to be enthusiastic about her chances (win or place); look elsewhere.

Form: 645/90

Prince Dundee^t²¹⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 10-11| J: Blair Campbell⁽⁵⁾| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell| OR: 94

7/1

Stablemate of Thepensionfund; switched to handicap company for the first time after showing very little in the way of worthwhile form for Lucinda Russell; half-brother to winning 2m-2m4f hurdler/chaser Ben Dundee; should be given more time.

Form: P/56-6

Las Tunas²⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 10-4| J: S Mulqueen⁽³⁾| T: R M Smith| OR: 87| D

5/1

Modest overall strike-rate (5-51); on the premises and possibly not aided by various hurdle omissions when finishing 6¾L fourth to Iolani over C&D in October; placed over fences at Ayr latest; obvious player off a lightweight.

Form: 235-243

Non-Runners

Age Of Glory³²⁰

Weight: 11-7| Age: 9

T: B Butterworth J: Sean Quinlan

Forecasts

Xpo Universel (7/4), Las Tunas (5/1), Prince Dundee (7/1), Age Of Glory (7/1), Empire De Maulde (9/1), Newstart (11/1), No Boundaries (14/1), Thepensionfund (14/1), Jokers And Rogues (16/1), Ballynanty (16/1), Wishing Well (33/1), Bogardus (50/1)

The returning Age Of Glory should be monitored in the betting exchanges as he still has scope to win more races from his adjusted handicap mark, but unfortunately for connections there's not a great deal of rain forecast. Quicker ground might also count against last Sunday's Carlisle winner Xpo Universel who has been very well handled by Sedgefield-trainer Rebecca Menzies. Therefore, the safest option in a modest contest is the lowly-weighted LAS TUNAS. A simple repeat of his October C&D fourth to Iolani will make him difficult to beat.