17:30 Newcastle

Monday 29 April 2019

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

missnewcastle.com Handicap

Off time: 17:32 | Winning time: 59.77s

(6)

Skyva^b¹⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 9-7| J: Ben Robinson⁽³⁾| T: B Ellison| OR: 54

3/1

Infrequent winner (1-17); historically strongest over 6f at this track, albeit is now rated 4lb lower than when finishing a respectable 2½L fourth to Dandy Highwayman here in January.

Form: 5346-48

(5)

Racquet¹¹

Age: 6| Weight: 9-5| J: C J McGovern⁽³⁾| T: Mrs R Carr| OR: 52| D

4/1

Yet to demonstrate a real aptitude for AW racing (0-5). That said, is almost certain to draw benefit from his seasonal reappearance at Chelmsford (5f) 11-days ago; sits on his last winning mark (6f, Thirsk); stablemate of Oriental Splendour.

Form: 71700-7

(2)

Groundworker^t²⁵

Age: 8| Weight: 9-3| J: D Nolan| T: P T Midgley| OR: 50| CD

12/1

Difficult to win with nowadays but is undeniably well handicapped; showed up well for much of the race at Southwell recently (before weakening); likely to appreciate the return to Tapeta as a two-time C&D winner; the each-way angle.

Form: 36385-9

(4)

Brendan¹⁹⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 9-2| J: Corey Madden⁽⁷⁾| T: J S Goldie| OR: 49| CD

5/1

Strapping gelding who has his issues with the starting stalls; 3lb higher than when beating Windforpower by a neck over C&D in early September; market can guide on his return from a 194-day absence; stablemate of Star Cracker.

Form: 072105-

(8)

Someone Exciting¹³⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 9-2| J: Harrison Shaw⁽⁵⁾| T: D Thompson| OR: 49

20/1

AW maiden (0-9); drops back to a more suitable trip after patently not staying an extended 1m4f here in December; nevertheless, others appear as much more probable candidates.

Form: 027909-

(10)

Dream Ally²⁵

Age: 9| Weight: 9-2| J: Jonathan Fisher⁽⁷⁾| T: J R Weymes| OR: 49| C| D

9/1

Veteran of 73-races under rules (7-52 on the AW); campaigned almost exclusively on Fibresand at Southwell so far in 2019 where he finished a head second to Socialites Red (6f) on his penultimate start.

Form: 083720

(11)

Climax^h1³¹

Age: 5| Weight: 9-1| J: Elisha Whittington⁽⁷⁾| T: W Storey| OR: 48

66/1

Off the track since October 2016 until returning over C&D last month; falling like a stone in the weights (with good reason); all hopes pinned on the newly-applied hood; look elsewhere confidently.

Form: 4008/60

(7)

Oriental Splendour^p²⁰⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 8-13| J: J P Sullivan| T: Mrs R Carr| OR: 46| DWS

5/1

Yet to win on the AW (0-8), but now rated 21lb lower than when beaten just over 1L by the 6/4f Horsforth over C&D in June 2017; one to keep a close eye upon on return form wind surgery; stablemate of Racquet.

Form: 354586-

(9)

Star Cracker^p³¹

Age: 7| Weight: 8-12| J: Phil Dennis| T: J S Goldie| OR: 45| CD

13/2

Placed on no fewer than four occasions over C&D since December 2018, but struggling to regain the winning thread; now 4lb below his last winning mark; stablemate of the strapping Brendan.

Form: 925239

(3)

Mountain Of Stars^b1⁴⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 8-12| J: R Havlin| T: Suzzanne France| OR: 45

14/1

Nine-race maiden; well beaten on sole previous Newcastle start (C&D); makes no appeal whatsoever despite the presence of newly-applied blinkers.

Form: 0067-50

Non-Runners

(1)

Camanche Grey²⁷

Weight: 8-12| Age: 8

T: L Egerton J: Victor Santos

Forecasts

Skyva (3/1), Racquet (4/1), Brendan (5/1), Oriental Splendour (5/1), Star Cracker (13/2), Dream Ally (9/1), Groundworker (12/1), Mountain Of Stars (14/1), Someone Exciting (20/1), Camanche Grey (33/1), Climax (66/1)

A poor finale in which plenty can be confidently dismissed with question marks also raised against some of the other more likely candidates, including Brendan (stalls) and Skyva (trip). Groundworker is a perfectly capable horse when at the top of his game, so this dual C&D winner could represent the each-way value in a race where the Ruth Carr-trained duo ORIENTAL SPLENDOUR (first start since wind surgery) and Racquet (on his last winning mark) also make the shortlist.