MansionBet Novices' Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 14:10 | Winning time: 3m 49.4s

Cesar Du Gouet^h,t²⁶⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: R Johnson| T: O Murphy| OR: 109

11/8

Eight-race ex-Irish maiden debuts for a yard with a reputation for improving horses. There seems enough to work on to make him one of the leading contenders with the champion jockey booked to ride.

Form: P7/4342-

World War^p,t²⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-10| J: L P Aspell| T: M Keighley| OR: 107

12/1

Formerly useful on the Flat before losing his way. Poor on first two starts over hurdles but better last time, however he had the run of the race that day and the form may not credible.

Form: 8P7-

Light Gunner¹⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 11-10| J: James Davies| T: R Bandey| OR: 107

20/1

Produced a career best on yard debut when chasing home a short priced favourite at Kempton. A line through the winner puts him a long way ahead of World War and a similar effort will ensure he goes close.

Form: P052-

Panko⁴⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 11-10| J: Kielan Woods| T: A M Hales| OR: 107

5/1

Rated in the mid 80s on the Flat after winning a couple of middle-distance handicaps last summer. Fair second on hurdling debut but form under both codes has deteriorated since.

Form: 2U6-

Sid Hoodie^p,t¹⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 11-8| J: Harry Bannister| T: C J Mann| OR: 105| D

3/1

New headgear combination helped her succeed at Fakenham in similar company to this. Up 4lb and that should be manageable in a race where may of these have issues to address.

Form: 644241-

Ace Ventura^t1⁵¹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-4| J: P J Brennan| T: O Greenall & J Guerriero| OR: 105

15/2

Winner on the Flat when trained by Roger Varian, but after showing promise on his hurdling debut his form has tailed off. Lenient enough mark for handicap debut, but has a bit to prove.

Form: 376-

Denis¹⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 10-3| J: Dave Crosse| T: P R Webber| OR: 90

40/1

Beaten by wide margins at big prices in all four previous starts over hurdles and makes limited appeal on his handicap debut.

Form: 7705-

Forecasts

Cesar Du Gouet (11/8), Sid Hoodie (3/1), Panko (5/1), Ace Ventura (15/2), World War (12/1), Light Gunner (20/1), Denis (40/1)

New headgear and a good round of jumping were enough to see Sid Hoodie gain a first hurdling success at Fakenham and a 4lb rise seems fair enough. She will be hard to beat but CESAR DU GOUET is open to improvement having moved to Olly Murphy and his Irish form looks good enough anyway. Light Gunner produced a career best on his stable debut and may prove best of the rest.