Autoglaze Darlington Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 16:51 | Winning time: 4m 40.6s

Wild Sam^b¹²

Age: 9| Weight: 11-12| J: C O'Farrell| T: I Jardine| OR: 95

10/3

Had been racking up more letters than numbers in his form but he put that right in style at Market Rasen a fortnight ago, sticking on in game fashion to get up close home. 3lb rise fair and step up in trip won't bother. Solid chance again.

Form: 35-FUF1

Mrs Davies¹⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-11| J: B S Hughes| T: K Dalgleish| OR: 94

7/2

Couple of decent efforts at Perth this spring but took a backwards step at Bangor last time. Needs to finish her race off better, and given it's still fairly early days with her yet, she could get back on track.

Form: 575-535

Gris De Pron^p¹²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: Jamie Hamilton| T: H Hogarth| OR: 87

5/1

Only 1½l behind Wild Sam at Market Rasen and the 2lb swing in the weights today gives him a chance of turning it around, but the winner was finishing the better and he may well confirm the form over this longer trip.

Form: P7P-562

Cool Artist³⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-3| J: Tom Buckley⁽⁷⁾| T: N J Hawke| OR: 86

14/1

Plugged on at one pace to finish a fairly distant fifth on her handicap debut at Cartmel last month, giving the impression a step up in trip would help. Yard do well here (26% strike rate) so is of interest on that alone.

Form: 44-05

Helf^p,t²³⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-3| J: Henry Brooke| T: O Greenall & J Guerriero| OR: 86

20/1

Back on the same mark as when scoring at Market Rasen last August, but four starts after that came nowhere near that form, and he's clearly not the most consistent. Has been absent since January and likely to need the run.

Form: 7/08156-

Pads³

Age: 9| Weight: 10-10| J: Alain Cawley| T: D Bourke| OR: 79

7/2

Still a maiden after 29 starts, which has to be a concern, but did at least put in one of his better efforts at Cartmel when runner-up last time. Drop back in trip possibly not ideal but place chances again all the same.

Form: 55-3832

Kisumu^p,t⁶⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 10-1| J: Miss Becky Smith⁽³⁾| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 70

5/1

Just a handful of places to show from his 38 starts and in no great form at present. Tends to finish off weakly and makes little appeal.

Form: 038-488

Forecasts

Wild Sam (10/3), Pads (7/2), Mrs Davies (7/2), Gris De Pron (5/1), Kisumu (5/1), Cool Artist (14/1), Helf (20/1)

WILD SAM and Gris De Pron met at Market Rasen a couple of weeks ago and the former came out on top. The weights give Gris De Pron a squeak of turning that form around, but Wild Sam was never stronger than at the winning line and over this extra 2f, can confirm the form. Mrs Davies could take a hand if she can dig in a bit better come the business end, and Cool Artist could go well for Nigel Hawke, who does well with his few runners here.