15:20 Newcastle

Monday 29 April 2019

All14:2014:5015:2015:5516:2517:0017:30

Parklands Driving Range Handicap

Off time: 15:20 | Winning time: 2m 43.75s

(2)

Archippos^b1¹⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 9-7| J: P J McDonald| T: P A Kirby| OR: 75

11/1

Early season scorer on turf at Doncaster (1m2f, soft) in March 2018; has competed over hurdles without success in more recent months, and returns to the AW (0-3) with something to prove; wears first-time blinkers.

Form: 096798-

(8)

Question Of Faith¹⁶⁶

Age: 8| Weight: 9-7| J: P Hanagan| T: M Todhunter| OR: 75

33/1

Won twice on turf in the second half of the 2018 Flat season - Ayr (2m1½f, good) and Catterick (1m6f, good); has competed over hurdles since then; making just her second ever AW start over a trip shy of her best; back from a 166-day absence.

Form: 314174-

(5)

Lopes Dancer¹³

Age: 7| Weight: 9-5| J: J Fanning| T: H Bethell| OR: 73| CD

4/1

Narrow C&D winner under a positive ride from today's pilot Joe Fanning in January, beating Champagne Rules by ½L; has produced broadly comparable efforts since and remains on a reasonably fair mark; chance.

Form: 12-4145

(4)

Momtalik^b1³⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 9-4| J: Dane O'Neill| T: J & T Gosden| OR: 72

11/4

Cost 390,000gns as a juvenile; fair to say that he's proved rather disappointing so far, and doesn't necessarily do anything quickly either; possible that he can find his niche in staying handicaps (debut) in newly-applied headgear.

Form: 33-3

(6)

Thawry²⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 9-4| J: Cam Hardie| T: A Brittain| OR: 72| C

11/2

His sole win (1-17) came over an extended 1m2f here in February, when an all out ½L scorer from the fast-finishing Dommerson; placed off his revised mark (2lb higher) over this trip at Wolverhampton latest.

Form: 541673

(10)

Royal Cosmic²⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 9-3| J: Sean Davis⁽⁵⁾| T: R A Fahey| OR: 71| CD

4/1

Won with plenty in hand when beating the Karen McLintock-trained Good Man by 7L over C&D three-starts back (now rated 9lb higher); solid since, bumping into a well backed Hugo Palmer-trained runner at Southwell (1m3f) latest; contender.

Form: 5-41132

(1)

Searching²⁴³

Age: 7| Weight: 9-2| J: C J McGovern⁽³⁾| T: K Tutty| OR: 70| D

28/1

Hasn't won since May 2016 when taking a 2m Huntingdon maiden hurdle for previous trainer Gary Moore; 0-6 since joining Karen Tutty for £3,000 in June 2018; makes his AW debut off a 243-day absence.

Form: 76244U-

(7)

Be Perfect^p¹²

Age: 10| Weight: 9-1| J: J P Sullivan| T: Mrs R Carr| OR: 69| CD

16/1

Veteran who is fast-approaching the '100 club'; now rated 6lb lower than when making all for a 1½L 1m4f win at Doncaster (good to firm) in July 2018; forced the pace at Beverley latest when beaten 3½L by today's rival Archive.

Form: 330-073

(3)

Archive¹²

Age: 9| Weight: 8-13| J: Ben Robinson⁽³⁾| T: B Ellison| OR: 67| D

11/2

Has hit form in no uncertain terms this month, and arrives seeking a hat-trick following 1m4f turf wins at Pontefract and Beverley; yet to win on the AW (0-7) but possible that he can capitalise on a 2lb lower mark (holds Be Perfect).

Form: 39-6411

(9)

Aislabie⁷⁹⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 8-7| J: Rachel Richardson| T: J Ward| OR: 60

28/1

2m hurdles scorer for Mark Walford in December 2016; pulled up on his next start a couple of months later and absent from the track since; placed on both starts on the AW (over C&D) - now 5lb lower; debut for Jason Ward.

Form: 447833/

Forecasts

Momtalik (11/4), Lopes Dancer (4/1), Royal Cosmic (4/1), Archive (11/2), Thawry (11/2), Archippos (11/1), Be Perfect (16/1), Searching (28/1), Aislabie (28/1), Question Of Faith (33/1)

The 390,000gns juvenile Momtalik has so far failed to cut the mustard on the racecourse, but could potentially find his niche in handicaps (debut) in the newly-applied headgear, whereas the upped in the weights 5yo mare Royal Cosmic continues in fine fettle, finding only a well-backed Hugo Palmer-trained rival stronger on the Fibresand at Southwell recently. However, it's difficult to oppose the hat-trick seeking ARCHIVE who is able to compete from a mark which is 2lb lower than his last winning perch owing to the difference between official ratings on turf compared to the AW.