17:10 Ascot

Friday 12 July 2019

All14:1514:5015:2516:0016:3517:1017:45

Long Harbour Derek Lucie-Smith Memorial Handicap

Off time: 17:13 | Winning time: 1m 12.93s

(2)

Louie de Palma¹⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 10-1| J: A Kirby| T: C G Cox| OR: 96| BF| CD

5/1

Dual C&D winner; made all and held on in a determined manner when beating today's rival Vegas Boy by ½L here in May (soft); rock-solid in defeat since and is also very closely matched with Sunsprite; sits on a joint career high mark.

Form: 20-5123

(3)

Polybius¹¹

Age: 8| Weight: 10-0| J: Jason Watson| T: D M Simcock| OR: 95| D

14/1

Can usually be relied upon to put his best foot forward at this track (has solid historic 5f-6f form here); hasn't seen a great deal of racing in more recent times but should appreciate the ease in grade (from Class 2 handicaps).

Form: 7145-66

(9)

Margub⁶⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 10-0| J: Dane O'Neill| T: M P Tregoning| OR: 95| BF

8/1

Very low-mileage on turf, and over 6f (hasn't run on grass since his 2yo debut in June 2017); 3-6 over 7f on the AW; 10lb higher than when making all to beat Elerfaan by 3½L at Wolverhampton in April.

Form: 1172-15

(10)

Sunsprite^p1¹⁸

Age: 3| Weight: 9-9| J: S W Kelly| T: R Hughes| OR: 96| D

8/1

Won three successive races during the summer of 2018 (5f-6f); kicked-off this season in a 6f Newbury Listed contest (sixth); very closely matched with Louie De Palma on the evidence of Windsor form; cheekpieces applied.

Form: 113-672

(1)

Concierge⁶⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 9-7| J: Harry Bentley| T: George Scott| OR: 94| D

20/1

Had a very successful juvenile season with four wins from nine starts, culminating with a short head success at Doha (7f, good) last December; more modest since and has plenty to prove against these opponents.

Form: 4251-50

(5)

Normandy Barriere^p⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 9-6| J: Izzy Clifton⁽⁷⁾| T: N Tinkler| OR: 87| CD

9/2

Without a win since May 2017 (over C&D) but there's no doubting that on his day he's a very talented sprint handicapper; 7lb lower than when fifth in this contest in 2018; very pleasing third at Haydock (6f) last weekend; of major interest.

Form: 005593

(8)

Vegas Boy^t²⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 9-2| J: Nicola Currie| T: J A Osborne| OR: 83| D

6/1

Just held (beaten ½L) by Louie De Palma over C&D in May and he's weighted to reverse those placings here; not as competitive since but on the plus side this sounder surface won't prove problematic and he's yet to finish out of the frame at Ascot.

Form: 7-52946

(6)

Lightning Charlie²⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 8-11| J: P J Dobbs| T: Mrs A J Perrett| OR: 78| CD

20/1

Won this race by a short head in 2017 and was beaten a mere ¾L when bidding to defend his crown in 2018; is struggling for form of late and has work to do with Louie De Palma/Vegas Boy; not this year.

Form: 8-48646

(4)

Swindler²⁷⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 8-9| J: L P Keniry| T: E Walker| OR: 82| BF

9/4

Placed on all three juvenile starts (6f), including when beaten two short heads by the subsequent Group 3 Greenham Stakes winner Mohaather at Nottingham in October; makes his belated handicap debut (N/R here in May due to soft ground).

Form: 223-

(7)

Doc Sportello^p²⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 8-9| J: Darragh Keenan⁽⁵⁾| T: A W Carroll| OR: 74| D

33/1

Better known for his winter AW exploits (5f-6f) and as a result he's able to compete from a much lower mark on turf (some 10lb or so); could find a more suitable opportunity in time; highly unlikely to play a hand in this contest.

Form: 6-10096

Result Amended

Louie de Palma - Original Position 4th. Amended Position 3rd.

Polybius - Original Position 7th. Amended Position 6th.

Margub - Original Position 10th. Amended Position 9th.

Sunsprite - Original Position 2nd. Amended Position 10th.

Concierge - Original Position 6th. Amended Position 5th.

Normandy Barriere - Original Position 3rd. Amended Position 2nd.

Vegas Boy - Original Position 8th. Amended Position 7th.

Lightning Charlie - Original Position 5th. Amended Position 4th.

Doc Sportello - Original Position 9th. Amended Position 8th.

Forecasts

Swindler (9/4), Normandy Barriere (9/2), Louie de Palma (5/1), Vegas Boy (6/1), Margub (8/1), Sunsprite (8/1), Polybius (14/1), Lightning Charlie (20/1), Concierge (20/1), Doc Sportello (33/1)

An interesting sprint which features no shortage of Ascot regulars, namely May's 1-2 of Louie De Palma and Vegas Boy. Others worthy of a mention include the eased-in-grade Polybius, the newly cheek-pieced Sunsprite and the out of form 2017 race winner Lightning Charlie. However, we'll row confidently in with the re-emerging NORMANDY BARRIERE who finished a close third to a couple of useful opponents at Haydock last week. He is very nicely handicapped from a reduced mark of 87 (more so when factoring in Izzy Clifton's 7lb claim) and with a very strong back catalogue of Ascot form on his CV he should go mightily close.