18:15 Newcastle

Wednesday 2 January 2019

All15:3516:1016:4517:1517:4518:1518:4519:15

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Off time: 18:16 | Winning time: 1m 26.69s

(4)

Dirchill^b¹⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 9-7| J: Jason Hart| T: D Thompson| OR: 75

10/1

Won three times for David Barron, but has been out of luck for current trainer. Ran well to be third over C&D last time, however, and has claims off the same mark.

Form: 188873-

(7)

Rey Loopy¹⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 9-6| J: A Mullen| T: B Haslam| OR: 74| CD

7/2

Had Dirchill behind in third when runner-up to Chosen World in a C&D handicap last month. That was a big step forward and he has sound claims on these revised terms.

Form: 0P2752-

(3)

Fingal's Cave^p1¹⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 9-1| J: J Mitchell| T: P A Kirby| OR: 69| CD

9/2

Has hit the crossbar on his last three starts on the AW, but finds himself 4lb higher than for the first of them. In-form trainer reaches for cheekpieces in a bid to eke out more.

Form: 508223-

(6)

Harvest Day^t¹⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 9-0| J: Nathan Evans| T: M & D Easterby| OR: 68| D

3/1

Behind a few of these over C&D on latest outing. Enjoyed a good start to 2018, but handicapper looks to have caught up with her for now.

Form: 484278-

(1)

Smugglers Creek^v1⁵⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 8-13| J: J Fanning| T: I Jardine| OR: 67| CD

10/1

Back to form when landing a C&D handicap in November and finds himself only 3lb higher. Clear chance on that latest effort, especially if a first-time visor has a positive effect.

Form: 573971-

(2)

Chosen World^p¹⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 8-11| J: C J McGovern⁽³⁾| T: Miss J A Camacho| OR: 65| CD

11/4

Second win in six AW starts when landing a second successive C&D handicap last time with a few of these rivals behind. Not sure to confirm that form on worse terms, but is clearly progressive.

Form: 604311-

(5)

Admiral Rooke²²

Age: 4| Weight: 8-7| J: Cam Hardie| T: M Appleby| OR: 61

40/1

Still looking for his first win after 18 attempts, but this is only his second outing for current trainer after leaving Michael Dods' yard. Could well pop up at some stage, but this looks competitive.

Form: 226807-

Forecasts

Chosen World (11/4), Harvest Day (3/1), Rey Loopy (7/2), Fingal's Cave (9/2), Dirchill (10/1), Smugglers Creek (10/1), Admiral Rooke (40/1)

The recent C&D contest won by Chosen World also featured Rey Loopy, Dirchill and Harvest Day. The winner of that race may come out on top again, but it is hard to be dogmatic about that so a chance is taken on FINGAL'S CAVE reacting positively to first-time cheekpieces. Admiral Rooke is worth keeping an eye on with the future in mind, while it would be folly to write off Smugglers Creek, who boasts good C&D form and is tried in a visor.