17:10 Carlisle

Sunday 24 March 2019

All14:2514:5515:3016:0016:3517:1017:40

Cotehill Handicap Chase

Off time: 17:11 | Winning time: 6m 58.1s

Chase The Wind^t¹⁹

Age: 10| Weight: 12-0| J: Sean Quinlan| T: Miss J E Foster| OR: 107

7/1

All three wins have been on good ground. Made the frame from this mark on both his last two starts (good to soft each time), but this softer ground is very much a concern.

Form: 5/65623

Solid Strike^p¹⁰

Age: 11| Weight: 11-12| J: B S Hughes| T: Paul Collins| OR: 105

3/1

Stays this far despite his 2m4f win last time and goes well on testing ground. Up another 5lb and cheekpieces retained. May still be more to come from this mark. Considered.

Form: 63-5721

Pretty Miss Mahler²⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 11-8| J: Danny Cook| T: M Todhunter| OR: 101

15/2

Scored over a similar trip on soft at Cartmel last year, as a hurdler, when 3lb lower. Added a chase from 2lb lower at Wetherby in December. Another competitive effort last time over C&D, but more needed for another win.

Form: F53153

Finaghy Ayr^p¹⁰

Age: 11| Weight: 11-4| J: D R Fox| T: I A Duncan| OR: 97| C

11/1

2lb lower than when scoring here over 3m½f (soft) last season. Decent effort over 4m last time, which was a step back in the right direction, and several pieces of form give him claims from this mark. Further rain would be positive.

Form: 227-0P3

Conas Taoi^p²⁰

Age: 10| Weight: 11-0| J: James Bowen| T: Christian Williams| OR: 93| BF| CD

11/4

Produced his best effort since 2016 when scoring over C&D (good to soft) last month, from 6lb lower. Another good effort at Fakenham last time. Needs more than that to win again, and softer ground is also a concern.

Form: P58213

Onderun^p⁸

Age: 10| Weight: 10-12| J: Jonathon Bewley⁽³⁾| T: G Bewley| OR: 91| CD

14/1

Back on the same mark as his C&D win (heavy) last April. Bettered that on his next start, but has been in the doldrums since. Wouldn't do to write him off though, as that C&D success came out of nowhere.

Form: 3-P0373

Magic Of Milan^p,t¹⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 10-11| J: Callum Bewley| T: S England| OR: 90

17/2

Comfortably 7L scorer in an Ayr handicap hurdle (2m5½f, good to soft) in April, when 11lb lower. Made a promising chase debut here (2m5f, heavy) last time. Up 3lb for that, but pedigree hints that this longer trip should be positive. Interesting.

Form: 241272

Purple Harry^t1¹⁰

Age: 11| Weight: 10-0| J: Ross Chapman| T: Miss T Jackson| OR: 79

12/1

Without a win for almost two years and has now dropped to a career-low mark. Tongue-tie on here, but has plenty to prove on recent evidence.

Form: 624-58P

Forecasts

Conas Taoi (11/4), Solid Strike (3/1), Chase The Wind (7/1), Pretty Miss Mahler (15/2), Magic Of Milan (17/2), Finaghy Ayr (11/1), Purple Harry (12/1), Onderun (14/1)

Solid Strike is in good form and a 5lb rise may not be enough to stop him winning again, while a deluge would enhance the claims of Finaghy Ayr, who could nonetheless give a good account. Onderun can't be written off from this mark, and similar comments apply to Pretty Miss Mahler. However, the unexposed MAGIC OF MILAN is suggested, now that she steps up to this trip after showing promise on her chase debut.