15:10 Newcastle

Saturday 16 March 2019

All14:0014:3515:1015:4516:2016:5517:30

Sun Racing App Compare The Odds Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 15:11 | Winning time: 4m 15.50s

The Gipper⁸⁹

Age: 9| Weight: 11-12| J: Conor Ring⁽³⁾| T: Evan Williams| OR: 130| D

7/1

Boasts a impressive record over hurdles (6-16) - boosted by successive 2m heavy ground wins at Lingfield and Ffos Las in December; 12lb above his last winning mark, albeit that form has been boosted since by Thursday's Hexham winner Llantara.

Form: 344-711

Vado Forte^h¹¹⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-10| J: Stan Sheppard⁽³⁾| T: T Lacey| OR: 128| D

5/4

Productive on soft/heavy ground during the spring of 2018, winning at Warwick, Taunton and Plumpton; returns from a break having finished down the field in the Grade 3 Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham in November; trainer 5-11 (45%) at Newcastle.

Form: 1211-30

Only Orsenfoolsies⁸⁴

Age: 10| Weight: 11-10| J: Alain Cawley| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 128| D

16/1

Unlikely to be troubled by the forecast conditions, yet remains plenty high enough in the weights (8lb above his last winning mark); inconclusive as to exactly what constitutes his optimum trip; better fancied stablemate of Horst.

Form: 3152-34

Minella Charmer¹⁰¹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-9| J: B S Hughes| T: James Moffatt| OR: 127

14/1

Formerly with Alan King, he's without a win since January 2016 (2m4f+ Plumpton, heavy); has fallen on five of his ten starts since and that makes him a risky proposition; out-ran his odds of 66/1 at Haydock (2m2f) in December.

Form: F6F-FP3

Katgary^p²¹

Age: 9| Weight: 11-6| J: Danny McMenamin⁽⁷⁾| T: Miss P Robson| OR: 124

20/1

Struggled to make much of an impression when set some fairly difficult tasks last season (including in the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth); now finally beginning to ease in the weights, albeit without an upturn in fortunes just yet; good 7lb claimer booked.

Form: 4244-46

Dali Mail^t⁷³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: Craig Nichol| T: D W Whillans| OR: 122| D

11/4

Heavy ground bumper winner who is relatively inexperienced over hurdles, with just a 2m Ayr maiden success on his CV thus far; interesting to see how he copes with an opening mark of 122; capable of further improvement.

Form: 4/310-12

Sleepy Haven^p⁴⁴

Age: 9| Weight: 11-3| J: Sean Quinlan| T: J Candlish| OR: 121| D

12/1

Beaten by a short-head at Hexham in November (2m, soft) and has raced over hurdles just the once since; 5lb above that last winning mark and perfectly relevant to acknowledge that this race today is a grade higher (Class 3).

Form: 357-624

Melody Of Scotland³¹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-10| J: R P McLernon| T: B Haslam| OR: 114| D

9/1

Soft ground hurdles winner in France for Guillame Macaire (May 2017) and did okay initially when switched to Alan King; poor so far for Ben Haslam (0-4), with no positives whatsoever to take from her February run at Musselburgh (3m).

Form: 607773

Non-Runners

Suggestion¹⁵

Weight: 11-2| Age: 7

T: P A Kirby J: Thomas Dowson

Horst²²

Weight: 11-0| Age: 5

T: Micky Hammond J: Joe Colliver

Forecasts

Vado Forte (5/4), Dali Mail (11/4), The Gipper (7/1), Suggestion (7/1), Melody Of Scotland (9/1), Sleepy Haven (12/1), Minella Charmer (14/1), Only Orsenfoolsies (16/1), Katgary (20/1), Horst (25/1)

The northern assault is spearheaded by the lightly-raced 6yo Dali Mail who has his optimum conditions on handicap debut from a perfectly feasible mark of 122. However, he does lack experience of the hustle and bustle of competitive Saturday handicaps and that could ultimately prove his undoing. Therefore, we'll stick to those towards the top-end of the weights with the heavy ground specialists (significant rain is forecast) Vado Forte and THE GIPPER making long journeys north from Herefordshire and the Vale Of Glamorgan respectively. Preference is for the hat-trick seeker who has seen his latest Ffos Las victory boosted by the third-placed mare Llantara.