15:50 Wetherby

Tuesday 19 March 2019

All14:1014:4015:1515:5016:2016:55

Peter Harper 60th Birthday Celebration Novices' Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 15:50 | Winning time: 5m 55.70s

Leverock Lass²²

Age: 6| Weight: 12-0| J: Harrison Beswick⁽⁷⁾| T: T Reed| OR: 102| D

20/1

Shock winner of a 2m4f mares' novices' hurdle at Ayr in January (a race in which the long odds-on favourite Queens Cave flopped); didn't repeat that effort the following month and now tries the handicap option for the first time.

Form: 1710

No Trumps²²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: J J Burke| T: C E Longsdon| OR: 100

8/1

Lightly-raced; seemingly didn't quite see out the 3m1f trip on handicap debut at Plumpton (good) last month; in truth hasn't done an awful lot wrong so far and is generally progressive withing her grade; should make her mark.

Form: 8544

The Sting^h¹²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-9| J: Billy Garritty⁽⁷⁾| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 97

4/1

Took a small step forward in a "Hands And Heels" race at Carlisle (2m3f+, soft) just under a fortnight ago when finishing 14L third to Jurys Out and stablemate Strike West; further improvement is required.

Form: P56453

Dulce Panem^p¹⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 11-9| J: Nathan Moscrop⁽⁵⁾| T: R Menzies| OR: 97

6/1

A 31-race maiden (0-22 over hurdles); has failed to complete on his two previous visits to Wetherby; running reasonably well of late with his recent Newcastle third (2m4f+) franked by runner-up Mah Mate Bob; place chance.

Form: 09F433

Border Victor^p²³

Age: 7| Weight: 11-7| J: Sean Quinlan| T: F P Murtagh| OR: 95

3/1

Infrequent winner (1-20), yet has found a rich seam of form this winter (5,2,1,2,5,2) rising a total of 10lb in the handicap; caught close home by Discay over this C&D in late December; entitled to be there or thereabouts.

Form: 521252

Capmonfor^p¹⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 11-5| J: B S Hughes| T: D McCain Jnr| OR: 93

25/1

Placed in an Irish PTP (3m) in May 2018; shown modest form under rules so far; unseated Brian Hughes at the fourth flight when upped in trip on handicap debut (in first-time cheekpieces) at Newcastle latest.

Form: 37870F

Mid Day Gun^p,t²¹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: David England| T: O Greenall & J Guerriero| OR: 92| BF

8/1

Maiden (0-9); out-ran his 40/1 odds when headed on the run-in at Carlisle (3m1f, good to soft) on his penultimate start; not so effective with a quick turnaround at Ffos Las (3m) eight-days later; now sits 4lb higher in the weights.

Form: U80P26

Gallows Point^v1²⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: David Bass| T: K Bailey & M Nicholls| OR: 90

8/1

Half-brother to the bumper/2m2f-2m6f hurdle winner Bonne Fee; difficult to enthuse over his form so far, but it remains early days in handicap company; the combination of a visor/step up in trip could potentially eke out some improvement.

Form: 60800

Leopard^h,t²⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: Miss Becky Smith⁽³⁾| T: Miss J E Foster| OR: 86

12/1

17-race maiden under both codes (0-6 over hurdles); falling quickly in the weights but with little else seemingly in his favour; look elsewhere.

Form: 5F603P

Wishing Well^p¹⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 10-11| J: Alain Cawley| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 85

20/1

Twice a winner on the Flat (1m6f-2m); yet to show any aptitude for hurdling (0-8) and no obvious reason as to why that is likely to change; stablemate of The Sting.

Form: 5/90P0P

How Much Is Enough¹⁰⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 10-0| J: Danny McMenamin⁽⁷⁾| T: Mrs Stella Barclay| OR: 66

125/1

Has more letters to her name than numbers so far; competes from 8lb outside of the handicap proper this afternoon; couldn't be entertained; look elsewhere.

Form: 2P/0PPP

Forecasts

Border Victor (3/1), The Sting (4/1), Dulce Panem (6/1), Gallows Point (8/1), No Trumps (8/1), Mid Day Gun (8/1), Leopard (12/1), Leverock Lass (20/1), Wishing Well (20/1), Capmonfor (25/1), How Much Is Enough (125/1)

A very winnable contest. The likes of Border Victor and the 31-race maiden Dulce Panem have acquitted themselves reasonably well of late and are perfectly capable of figuring in the mix, whilst the Oliver Greenall-trained Mid Day Gun is a definite player on the basis of his penultimate start at Carlisle. However, you'd like to believe that there's more to come from the steadily progressive mare NO TRUMPS. She lacks a change of gear, but with the ground forecast to be riding on the soft side that mightn't be all that relevant this afternoon. Furthermore, her trainer Charlie Longsdon has a respectable strike-rate (19-89; 21%) at this Yorkshire venue.