Introducing Racing TV Novices' Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 15:40 | Winning time: 4m 56.4s

Iconic Belle²¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Sean Quinlan| T: P A Kirby| OR: 105| C

2/1

Made a winning hurdles debut over C&D in November (beat West Coast Lass by a neck) and was in contention when falling at the second last in handicap company on New Years Day; expect her to race prominently.

Form: 14F44

Shankill Castle^t1²⁷²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-11| J: B S Hughes| T: I A Duncan| OR: 104

15/2

Stayed on well to score at odds of 20/1 on stable/hurdles debut in a 2m maiden at Ayr (good) in May 2018; modest since, albeit is virtually untested in handicap company; tongue-tie applied on first start for 272-days.

Form: D60-146

Frame Rate¹²^{(ex 7)}

Age: 4| Weight: 11-4| J: C O'Farrell| T: I Jardine| OR: 98| CD

6/4

Off the mark at the sixth attempt over hurdles when beating Splash The Cash by 2¼L (over C&D) for in-form rider Conor O'Farrell; must be strongly considered after just a 4lb rise in the weights.

Form: 62FP01

Braddan Head^p1,t¹⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: Danny McMenamin⁽⁷⁾| T: Mrs Dianne Sayer| OR: 95

28/1

Well beaten on all three starts for this trainer having joined the yard for a mere £800 in December 2018 (formerly with Charlie Longsdon); impossible to enthuse over despite the presence of newly-applied cheekpieces.

Form: 55-P45P

Im Too Generous^t1³¹

Age: 9| Weight: 11-1| J: Nathan Moscrop⁽⁵⁾| T: R Menzies| OR: 94| C

9/1

Musselburgh bumper winner for Stuart Crawford in November 2014 (then sold for £35,000); pulled up on both starts since returning from a mammoth absence (has broken blood vessels); a completion is surely the sole objective in added tongue-tie.

Form: 2153/PP

Fairlee Grace⁴⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 10-0| J: Sam Coltherd⁽³⁾| T: W Coltherd| OR: 74

7/1

On paper, she rates as a horse with a limited level of ability (a seven-race maiden). However, she's almost certain to have needed both of her recent starts (on return from a near three-year absence); overall this isn't a taxing contest.

Form: 0464/48

Forecasts

Frame Rate (6/4), Iconic Belle (2/1), Fairlee Grace (7/1), Shankill Castle (15/2), Im Too Generous (9/1), Braddan Head (28/1)

Those towards the lower end of the handicap make precious little appeal, so it'll pay to focus upon the trio of Iconic Belle, Shankill Castle and the recent C&D scorer FRAME RATE. With Conor O'Farrell continuing to boot home a steady stream of winners, and just a 4lb rise in the weights to contend with for winning here 12-days ago, the solution to this 'puzzle' wouldn't exactly appear to be the most challenging of assignments.