20:10 Brighton

Tuesday 9 July 2019

All17:4018:1018:4019:1019:4020:1020:40

Marathonbet Festival Of Racing 7th-9th August Handicap

Off time: 20:10 | Winning time: 1m 23.33s

(5)

River Dawn¹⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 9-7| J: K Shoemark| T: P & O Cole| OR: 60

15/8

Made a decent start to life in handicaps when sixth at Windsor (6f; good). Big player if able to build upon that off 2lb lower, and he steps back up in trip to 7f on just his second handicap start.

Form: P7446

(8)

Aquarius^v⁸

Age: 3| Weight: 9-6| J: Theodore Ladd⁽⁵⁾| T: M Appleby| OR: 59

10/1

Regressive since making a winning debut and mark has dropped 22lb since she started life in handicaps. Showed no signs of life when sixth at Catterick (5f; good to firm) last time. Hard to find any real positives for her chances.

Form: 5-04686

(1)

Alyx Vance¹⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 9-2| J: R Ffrench| T: Mrs L Pearce| OR: 55

20/1

Respectable enough handicap debut when fifth at this track over 6f last time. Shaped as though the step back up in trip would suit and she is the dark horse in this race after just the four runs.

Form: 09-35

(9)

So Claire¹⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 9-1| J: M Dwyer| T: W R Muir| OR: 54

8/1

Shown no signs of improving on exploits in maidens since switching to handicaps. No obvious reason to see him reversing the form with Tarzan from there C&D run last time when she failed to beat a single rival home. Look elsewhere.

Form: 97-306

(7)

Tarrzan¹⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: Liam Jones| T: J Gallagher| OR: 53

12/1

Doesn't win very often but has ran some admirable races in defeat lately since staying at 7f. Just failed to overturn warm favourite over C&D last time when three-quarter length second. Genuine possibilities off the same mark.

Form: 632842

(6)

Princess Florence⁷^{(ex 6)}

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: Cieren Fallon⁽⁵⁾| T: J Ryan| OR: 47| CD

5/1

Tends to go well and was a comfortable winner over C&D last time when successful by just under two-length. Has a penalty to contend with but equally has a talented claimer onboard. Major shout.

Form: 972631

(3)

Forty Four Sunsets^b1³⁸

Age: 3| Weight: 8-13| J: Seamus Cronin⁽⁵⁾| T: R Hannon| OR: 52

3/1

Not shown a great deal of improvement for the switch to this code. Been running over further though (1m2f), so there is hope that the return to 7f may be just what she needs. Player despite having something to prove.

Form: 37-765

(2)

Spirit Of Lucerne²⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 8-9| J: Grace McEntee⁽⁷⁾| T: P S McEntee| OR: 48

33/1

Standout run of late came over C&D but she is a very unreliable sort who usually tends to fail in her bid to reproduce a promising effort. Not a likely player and is best watched for the time being.

Form: 506038

(4)

Grey Hare^h,t¹⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 8-7| J: Joey Haynes| T: A W Carroll| OR: 45

16/1

Showed a hint of promise as he outran 66-1 odds to come fifth at Chepstow (7f; good) on his first try at this trip. Has been dropped 3lb by the handicapper for that effort. Could well have more to offer over 7f.

Form: 700-085

Forecasts

River Dawn (15/8), Forty Four Sunsets (3/1), Princess Florence (5/1), So Claire (8/1), Aquarius (10/1), Tarrzan (12/1), Grey Hare (16/1), Alyx Vance (20/1), Spirit Of Lucerne (33/1)

Best advice is to stick with the runners who aren't exposed in this sphere. Namely ALYX VANCE and River Dawn. They are still both lightly raced and now step up to 7f on just their second start in this sphere after making encouraging handicap debuts last time out. The former is narrowly preferred as she receives a valuable 5lb from the latter, but they are a hard pair to split with both of them holding appealing profiles. Princess Florence and Tarrzan are also worth mentions after the former broke her maiden duck over C&D last week, while the latter has produced a string of consistent efforts in defeat of late.