Brian Ellison Racing Club Chase (Novices' Limited Handicap)

Off time: 14:44 | Winning time: 4m 12.10s

Charmant²⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-8| J: B S Hughes| T: J Ewart| OR: 134| CD

4/5

Made it 2-2 over fences when defying an 8lb rise to win in good style at Kelso (2m1f, good) in December; foot perfect at this track previously, so every chance that he's capable of landing the hat-trick off his revised mark of 134.

Form: 1424-11

Bulkov^p³⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 10-12| J: Alain Cawley| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 124| C

8/1

Made all when scoring three-times over hurdles at this track in late 2017/early 2018 (good to soft to heavy); slow to make his mark over fences, albeit far better at Hexham (2m) latest; still requires more.

Form: 211-862

Manwell^t¹⁵

Age: 9| Weight: 10-11| J: Jonathan England| T: S England| OR: 123| D

5/2

Progressing over fences (first or second on all eight starts); on a hat-trick following wins at Catterick and Wetherby (2m3f+); 7lb above his last winning mark and denied better opportunities with abandonments at Catterick and Wetherby this week.

Form: 22-2211

The Paddy Pie¹⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 10-9| J: Danny Cook| T: J Parkinson & S Smith| OR: 121

13/2

Placed on all four starts over fences so far, but was soon outpaced when finishing 14L third to Instant Replay over 2m3f here 16-days ago; others make a fair bit more appeal, especially over this reduced trip (2m).

Form: 212233

Non-Runners

Hawk High²²

Weight: 11-7| Age: 9

T: T D Easterby J: Non Runner

Ravenhill Road¹

Weight: 11-4| Age: 8

T: B Ellison J: Sean Quinlan

Lucky Robin³²

Weight: 10-3| Age: 7

T: B Ellison J: Henry Brooke

Forecasts

Charmant (4/5), Manwell (5/2), Hawk High (4/1), Ravenhill Road (5/1), The Paddy Pie (13/2), Bulkov (8/1), Lucky Robin (20/1)

CHARMANT has really excelled since switched to fences by the Langholm trainer James Ewart and was foot perfect when winning at this track in November. Given his enthusiasm for the larger obstacles and a proven versatile nature with regards ground conditions, a 9lb rise in the weights for his latest Kelso win is far from insurmountable. The main danger in an above average race for Sedgefield is Hawk High, with the hat-trick seeking Manwell seemingly denied more suitable winning opportunities by the abandonment of fixtures at Catterick and Wetherby earlier this week.