Children's Immunology Trust Novices' Chase

Off time: 14:35 | Winning time: 5m 44.1s

Donna's Diamond²⁰

Age: 9| Weight: 11-6| J: Sean Quinlan| T: C Grant| OR: 142| CD

9/4

Useful hurdler (149-rated); not ideally suited by good to soft ground when grinding out his first win over fences in the 2m7f+ Paris Pike Novices' Chase (beat Castletown) here recently; dropped marginally in trip and penalised for that success.

Form: 1102-21

Castletown^b²⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 11-0| J: Henry Brooke| T: Miss P Robson| OR: 105

7/1

Upped his game significantly when finishing a close second to Donna's Diamond (2m7f+, good to soft) here recently; renews rivalry on 6lb better terms, but couldn't be guaranteed to back up that performance.

Form: 221-572

Shades Of Midnight^p,t³⁵

Age: 8| Weight: 11-0| J: B S Hughes| T: A M Thomson| OR: 135| C

8/13

Fair to say that we've not witnessed the best of him over fences yet (0-5), although it's also worth acknowledging that he has been pitched in deep; effective at Kelso over hurdles and arrives on the back of his best effort in a while (Haydock).

Form: R3U8-32

Forecasts

Shades Of Midnight (8/13), Donna's Diamond (9/4), Castletown (7/1)

There's no doubting that proven stayer DONNA'S DIAMOND will be vulnerable on quick(ish) ground over a slightly reduced trip following a game 2m7f+ Kelso win earlier in the month (beat Castletown by 2¼L). However, with the form of his previous Hexham run also appearing stronger with every passing week (handsomely franked since by Top Ville Ben), he should hold too many guns for his two rivals. Shades Of Midnight is the forecast play.