13:50 Sandown

Saturday 27 April 2019

All13:5014:2515:0015:3516:1016:4017:15

bet365 Novices' Championship Final Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 13:50 | Winning time: 3m 53.80s

Getaway Trump¹⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Harry Cobden| T: P F Nicholls| OR: 147| D

9/2

Flopped in the Premier Hurdle at Kelso (2m2f) in March, but back on song north of the border with a fast, fluent round of hurdling at Ayr (2m, good) 15-days ago; conditions favourable; live contender.

Form: 112441

Dream Du Grand Val^h⁴⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-1| J: N de Boinville| T: N J Henderson| OR: 136| D

14/1

French import; made short work of inferior rivals at Fontwell (2m1½f, good to soft) and Kelso (2m, good); never really able to get competitive in the Grade 3 Imperial Cup over C&D (soft) latest; stablemate of Heatstroke.

Form: 43-6118

Lord Yeats²¹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: Thomas Dowson⁽³⁾| T: Jedd O'Keeffe| OR: 133| BF| D

7/1

Useful on the flat (103-rated); 2-5 over hurdles, enjoying rich pickings in very winnable contests in the north at Sedgefield (2m1f) and Hexham (2m); competitive until the bitter end (fourth) on handicap debut at Aintree (2m+, good).

Form: 21214

Harambe²⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: Wayne Hutchinson| T: A King| OR: 133| D

13/2

Stepped up in grade seeking a hat-trick following back-to-back wins at Kempton (2m) and Market Rasen (2m2½f); official handicap rating edging steadily upwards for those novice wins; conditions fine; has the measure of a couple of today's rivals.

Form: B24411

Scarlet Dragon^h⁶³

Age: 6| Weight: 10-11| J: R Johnson| T: A King| OR: 132| D

8/1

Five-time Flat winner (Group placed); ready 4½L winner at Huntingdon (2m, good to soft) at the start of his second spell over timber; weakened (fifth) in the Grade 2 Dovecote at Kempton latest - ran better than the bare finishing position.

Form: 29-15

Cause Toujours^t⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 10-11| J: Sam Twiston-Davies| T: Ian Williams| OR: 132| BF| D

20/1

Sent off at 4/1f for a Class 2 handicap at Haydock (2m, good) last weekend, but had the misfortune to slip up before the race developed in earnest; relatively fresh and will handle conditions; improvement required on overall balance.

Form: 14222F

Flash The Steel^t⁴⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 10-9| J: Bridget Andrews| T: D Skelton| OR: 130| D

16/1

One of two runners for the in-form Skelton yard; progressing nicely over obstacles and versatile in terms of conditions (good and soft ground winner); pushed clear to beat Espoir De Guye by 7L at Warwick (2m) in March.

Form: 324121

Birds Of Prey^t²³

Age: 5| Weight: 10-8| J: Lorcan Williams⁽⁵⁾| T: P F Nicholls| OR: 129

14/1

92-rated on the Flat (close up fourth in Doncaster's November Handicap); finished second on his first three starts over hurdles before winning his next couple (both over 2m3f at Taunton); Harry Cobden prefers stablemate Getaway Trump.

Form: 22211

Benny's Bridge³¹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-8| J: P J Brennan| T: F O'Brien| OR: 129

17/2

2-3 over hurdles in 2019, recording a clear career best at Cheltenham (2m1f, good to soft) in January when beating today's rival Flash The Steel by almost 3L; yard among the winners up at Perth this week.

Form: 2F4171

Heatstroke^t¹³

Age: 7| Weight: 10-7| J: James Bowen| T: N J Henderson| OR: 128| D

33/1

Stablemate of Dream Du Grand Val; made a winning hurdles debut (maiden) in a slowly run race at Huntingdon (2m, good to soft) in January; well below-par behind Harambe next time, before a better run at Wincanton latest; more required.

Form: 142

Humble Hero^t³⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 10-6| J: Harry Skelton| T: D Skelton| OR: 127| D

6/1

One of two runners for the in-form Skelton yard (appears to be the number one with Harry Skelton in the saddle); showed a determined attitude when fending off 12 rivals in a Class 4 novice at Newbury (2m) five-weeks ago; handicap debut.

Form: 221

Airton^b1²⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 10-6| J: T Scudamore| T: D Pipe| OR: 127| D

25/1

One-time AW regular for James Bethell; joined the Pipe yard for 14,000gns in October 2018, springing a 14/1 surprise on debut at Taunton (2m+, good); has run adequately since without necessarily improving; blinkers added.

Form: 123

What's Occurring⁶⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 10-5| J: L P Aspell| T: O Sherwood| OR: 126| D

22/1

Short odds winner of a couple of minor events at Hereford (2m, good to firm) in the autumn of 2018; has come up fractionally short in better races since but deserves to take his chance with conditions suitable.

Form: 5-11533

Petit Palais²⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 10-2| J: J J Burke| T: T R George| OR: 128| D

16/1

Left John Gosden light on experience for 26,000gns in October 2018; has proved to be a shrewd acquisition with two hurdle wins at Ludlow and Stratford (beat today's rival Airton most latterly) already recorded in 2019; the sole 4yo in the line-up.

Form: 151

Romanor^h⁴²

Age: 5| Weight: 10-0| J: Kevin Jones⁽³⁾| T: J W Mullins| OR: 121| D

28/1

Won three-times in the summer of 2018 (Stratford x2 and Fontwell), so clearly relishes racing on a sound surface; well held third to Harambe (Kempton) off a three-month break latest; this race is seemingly too competitive.

Form: 104483

Forecasts

Getaway Trump (9/2), Humble Hero (6/1), Harambe (13/2), Lord Yeats (7/1), Scarlet Dragon (8/1), Benny's Bridge (17/2), Birds Of Prey (14/1), Dream Du Grand Val (14/1), Flash The Steel (16/1), Petit Palais (16/1), Cause Toujours (20/1), What's Occurring (22/1), Airton (25/1), Romanor (28/1), Heatstroke (33/1)

Top-weight Getaway Trump deserves plenty of credit for bouncing back swiftly from his Premier Hurdle flop when posting an impressive 6L win at Ayr's two-day Scottish Grand National fixture. However, with 11st 12lb on his back, he could just prove vulnerable to a fast-emerging rival lower down the weights. The hat-trick seeking Harambe fits the bill and holds a few of today's rivals on the evidence of previous racecourse action, whilst Scarlet Dragon shouldn't be dismissed lightly. However, with the Skelton yard in red-hot form, we'll opt for the handicap newcomer HUMBLE HERO who displayed a very nice attitude when winning at Newbury five-weeks ago.