14:45 Catterick

Tuesday 1 January 2019

All12:2513:0013:3514:1014:4515:20

Every Race Live On Racing TV Handicap Chase

Off time: 15:00 | Winning time: 4m 43.6s

Song Saa^t⁵⁰

Age: 9| Weight: 11-12| J: Mr N George⁽⁷⁾| T: T R George| OR: 120| D

9/1

Strong travelling sort who maintained her tendency to find little when pressure is applied on her return from a break. Dropped 4lb for that run but still 6lb above her last winning mark and her weak finish means a place rather than a win is likely.

Form: 232P-44

Eureu Du Boulay^t⁶^{(ex 7)}

Age: 5| Weight: 11-11| J: Thomas Willmott⁽⁷⁾| T: R Hobson| OR: 117| CD

11/10

Goes for a hat-trick here having won well over C&D and then followed up in ready fashion at Sedgefield (made all both times). Jumps well and an attacking ride looks to suit him and will be hard to catch again under a penalty.

Form: 2P4511

Justforjames^p¹⁸

Age: 10| Weight: 11-10| J: Miss Becky Smith⁽³⁾| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 118| D

20/1

Has returned from a break in poor form jumping badly last time and generally not looking in love with the game. The two races that he won at Sedgefield in the spring now look weak affair and a leap of faith to support him here.

Form: 4131-5P

Lord County^p¹⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-8| J: W T Kennedy| T: O Greenall & J Guerriero| OR: 121| D

10/1

His hurdles form last year would entitle him to respect and he matched the pick of that form over fences last time defeating two rivals over fences at Doncaster. May well find this test a little sharp needs to find some more progress to be involved.

Form: 1351-P1

Brave Spartacus⁴⁶

Age: 13| Weight: 11-4| J: Sean Quinlan| T: G Boanas| OR: 112| BF| CD

12/1

Three-time C&D winner but those successes came a long time ago and he's not the same horse now (in the veteran stage). Showed that last time out when failing to dominate two rivals and reportedly finished lame.

Form: P5P242

Tara Mac^v1²⁸

Age: 10| Weight: 11-2| J: Alan Johns| T: Tim Vaughan| OR: 110| D

16/1

Showed the benefit of her reappearance start when scoring at Worcester in September off an 8lb lower mark and has run respectably in two outings since. May well be found out in this grade though with the handicapper looking in control; visor on now.

Form: 185164

No Ceiling¹⁸²

Age: 9| Weight: 11-1| J: R D Day| T: M E Sowersby| OR: 109

33/1

Landed a gamble for former trainer Ian Williams when looking well ahead of his mark but failed to build on that start subsequently. Shaped well on his last run for Williams in the summer off this mark but may just need this; first run for new yard.

Form: 1P4-443

Manwell^t¹⁴

Age: 9| Weight: 11-0| J: Jonathan England| T: S England| OR: 108

9/4

Six consecutive second places call his application into question (often travels well) with his latest runner-up slot coming at the hands of Eureu Du Boulay. 11lb better off with that one (winner again since) but his conqueror may be more progressive.

Form: 2222-22

Forecasts

Eureu Du Boulay (11/10), Manwell (9/4), Song Saa (9/1), Lord County (10/1), Brave Spartacus (12/1), Tara Mac (16/1), Justforjames (20/1), No Ceiling (33/1)

It may well be a case of seeing this scenario before with the progressive EUREU DU BOULAY given a chance under a penalty before he’s reassessed to score again over C&D and consign his old rival Manwell to another runner-up slot despite the latter being better off at the weights. Trainer Richard Hobson won this race last year and his charge has a good chance of completing the hat-trick here under another attacking ride. Lord County enters the equation on the back of his Doncaster win but may be seen to better advantage over a little further with the strong travelling Song Saa likely to find little in the finish as usual.