Break From The Herd At Vertem Novices' Hurdle

Off time: 17:05 | Winning time: 4m 58.68s

Dimple⁴¹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-4| J: Liam Quinlan⁽⁷⁾| T: A M Thomson| OR: 135| C| D

7/4

Ex-Irish hunter chaser who is going great guns for current yard winning all three starts since joining them in November. Completed hat-trick with runaway win in Kelso h'cap chase last time having previously won easily there over hurdles.

Form: 3P5-111

Imperial Aura¹²¹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: David Bass| T: K Bailey & M Nicholls

13/8

Promising sort who followed debut third in Kempton bumper with pleasing win in that sphere at Ludlow, then stayed on nicely to make a winning hurdles debut at Carlisle last time. Could be plenty more to come so is much respected.

Form: 31-1

Bally Conor¹⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: B S Hughes| T: Ruth Jefferson

5/1

Won bumper at Ayr in November than ran creditably under penalty when third in bumper here in December. Keen on hurdles bow at Market Rasen and faded fast from 2 out. Should know more but needs to step his game up.

Form: 4136

Oscar Wilde²⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: Danny Cook| T: J Parkinson & S Smith| OR: 118

11/2

Three runs under Rules have shown him to possess enough to win races, and looks ideally suited by soft ground. Good effort when close third to 142-rated winner over C&D last time so has to enter equation if that form is taken literally.

Form: P6-P373

Pieceoftheaction³⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: Sean Quinlan| T: C Grant

66/1

Won four point-to-points but was beaten a long way when fourth of five in Ayr novice hrudle on debut under Rules last month. Very hard to fancy on that evidence.

Form: 133-124

Voila Eric⁵⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 10-12| J: Brendan Powell| T: M Scudamore

40/1

Best of three bumper starts came when third at Suthwell in November. Not disgraced when 5th on hurdles bow over nearly 3m at Uttoxeter last time, only weakened before last. Drop in trip should help but needs to raise his game to figure here.

Form: 26/305

Non-Runners

Langness³⁰⁷

Weight: 10-12| Age: 6

T: M E Sowersby J: R D Day

Off The Hook³⁴

Weight: 10-11| Age: 7

T: N W Alexander J: Lucy Alexander

Forecasts

Imperial Aura (13/8), Dimple (7/4), Off The Hook (10/3), Bally Conor (5/1), Oscar Wilde (11/2), Voila Eric (40/1), Langness (50/1), Pieceoftheaction (66/1)

Quite a few with claims in a good finale, but the narrow choice is the unexposed southern raider IMPERIAL AURA who could potentially be a decent sort and won well last time out. Dimple is in great form and should go well in his bid for a four-timer, while the mare Off The Hook is another well capable of making her presence felt. Oscar Wilde is feared if his latest form can be believed and the market should reflect just how confident connections are this time.