Pola Minerals Handicap Chase

Off time: 17:05 | Winning time: 6m 42.9s

Lowanbehold²⁰

Age: 12| Weight: 11-12| J: Thomas Willmott⁽⁷⁾| T: Miss S E Forster| OR: 98| CD

9/2

Dour stayer who ploughed through the mud when winning the four-miler here in November 2017; 10lb 'wrong' at the weights when a respectable 14L fourth of six to Beau Sancy in a Kelso Class 3 (2m7½f, good) latest; key player.

Form: 9233-44

Prince Dundee^p,t²⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-11| J: Blair Campbell⁽³⁾| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell| OR: 97| BF| CD

5/2

Dual C&D winner (good/good to soft); much higher in the weights now and was beaten 11L by For Jim (flopped at Uttoxeter since) last month; more positively, he does race enthusiastically and jumps very well; chance.

Form: 65511-2

Dulce Panem^p¹¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-11| J: C O'Farrell| T: R Menzies| OR: 97

5/1

34-race maiden; found little at the business end of the race in a C&D maiden hurdle in May (finished fifth of six to Eva's Oskar); intrepidly ventured over to France for a spin over fences last week (fourth).

Form: 4333-54

Lawtop Legend¹⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 11-3| J: Jonathon Bewley⁽³⁾| T: G Bewley| OR: 89| C

4/1

Almost as regular as the pie and peas on the Hexham menu having competed here on six of his last seven starts; was beaten 6½L (third) by Witness in a Class 4 handicap hurdle (penultimate); isn't discounted on chasing debut.

Form: 2145-34

The Conn^p,t²⁵

Age: 9| Weight: 10-0| J: S Mulqueen⁽³⁾| T: Mrs S Walton| OR: 69

8/1

17-race maiden; competes from outside of the handicap proper; not totally exposed over fences (0-2), although does have work to do with Prince Dundee on May C&D form; others are much preferred.

Form: 55/57-53

Dutch Canyon²⁸

Age: 9| Weight: 10-0| J: Sam Coltherd⁽³⁾| T: W Coltherd| OR: 66| CD

7/2

30-race rules maiden for Kinneston based Nick Alexander; moved on and switched to PTP's in order to break his duck in a poor 3m Open Maiden here last month (made all); tough task from outside of the handicap proper.

Form: 27/447-1

Forecasts

Prince Dundee (5/2), Dutch Canyon (7/2), Lawtop Legend (4/1), Lowanbehold (9/2), Dulce Panem (5/1), The Conn (8/1)

In a very weak and winnable contest, Prince Dundee (has the measure of The Conn) ticks plenty of boxes as a bold jumping, dual C&D winner. However, he has climbed considerably in the weights since those spring successes, was beaten 11L by a horse who flopped next time out (at Uttoxeter) and does have a few questions to answer on today's rain-softened ground. Therefore, the hardy grey stayer LOWANBEHOLD is the preferred option. He ploughed through the mud when winning the four-miler here in November 2017, won again at Kelso (3m2f, heavy) in April 2018 and faced a very difficult task from out of the weights in a Class 3 handicap latest.