17:50 Catterick

Saturday 21 September 2019

All13:5014:2515:0015:3516:1016:4517:2017:50

Racing Again 8th October Handicap (Div 2)

Off time: 17:50 | Winning time: 1m 25.01s

(4)

Uncle Charlie⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 9-8| J: F Norton| T: Mrs A Duffield| OR: 60| D

7/2

Won twice (6f-7f) last summer, but hasn't at all convinced during the course of 2019 (0-6); finished down the field (12th of 15) on return from wind surgery at Thirsk (7f) on Monday.

Form: 647470

(2)

Sophia Maria^p²²

Age: 3| Weight: 9-3| J: Jane Elliott⁽³⁾| T: J D Bethell| OR: 58| D

10/3

Neck runner-up over C&D (soft) on her penultimate start; was 3lb 'well-in' when making amends on the AW at Newcastle three weeks ago; clearly goes well for Jane Elliott and ought to figure positively if equally effective on good to firm.

Form: 009521

(7)

Midnight In Havana¹⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 9-3| J: G Lee| T: B Smart| OR: 58

5/1

Lightly-raced Havana Gold gelding; six-race maiden; was returning from a 127-day break when a keeping on third to Ghathanfar at Newcastle (7f) a fortnight ago; couldn't be dismissed as a possible contender if taking another step forward.

Form: 573-343

(14)

The Big House¹⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 9-3| J: A Mullen| T: Adrian Nicholls| OR: 58| BF

5/1

Won with a degree of authority in a Class 6 selling handicap at Thirsk (1m, good) in July, and broadly consistent since (2,3,2,6); 8lb above his last winning mark; probably inconvenienced by the widest draw of all in stall 14.

Form: 412336

(8)

Rebel State^p⁴⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 9-0| J: Owen Payton⁽⁷⁾| T: Jedd O'Keeffe| OR: 52

16/1

Without a win since May 2018 (1m, Ayr); has found the frame on a couple of occasions this season and is handicapped to win again sooner or later, but equally has had plenty of similar chances.

Form: 537795

(5)

Kodimoor^p²²

Age: 6| Weight: 9-0| J: D C Costello| T: M Walford| OR: 52| C| D

7/1

In fine fettle since early July, notching a quickfire hat-trick of wins (7f-7½f); the handicapper hasn't been unduly harsh on him, and his C&D second (soft) to Our Charlie Brown was franked by Ghathanfar (Newcastle); latest run is excusable; chance.

Form: 511125

(6)

Magical Molly Joe^h¹⁰¹

Age: 5| Weight: 8-13| J: Phil Dennis| T: T D Barron| OR: 51| D

25/1

Won back-to-back races on the AW (7f, Wolverhampton) in the spring, but is generally far less effective on turf (0-8); returns to action from a 101-day absence - withdrawn at Redcar on 24th August.

Form: 971170

(13)

Sharrabang²⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 8-13| J: Cam Hardie| T: Mrs Stella Barclay| OR: 54| D

12/1

Showed his nine rivals a clean pair of heels when springing a 20-1 surprise in a 7f maiden handicap at Carlisle (good to firm) in July - that form stacks up okay (placed horses have won since); 2lb higher; poorly drawn in stall 13.

Form: 067154

(1)

Here's Rocco⁶⁸

Age: 3| Weight: 8-11| J: J P Sullivan| T: J & S Quinn| OR: 52

20/1

Eight-race maiden who can hardly be labelled as a progressive type; has fallen 18lb in the weights since introduced to handicapping in April; watching brief only on first start since mid-July (68 days).

Form: 5-80577

(3)

Isabella Ruby^p,h²⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 8-8| J: A Elliott| T: L Williamson| OR: 45

33/1

Lowly-rated 19-race maiden; has competed over 6f on her last couple of visits to Catterick, notching a joint-career best when beaten 2½L by the 30/100f Delachance (soft); it isn't difficult to imagine that she'll find a few stronger.

Form: 926924

(10)

Lord Rob⁴⁶

Age: 8| Weight: 8-8| J: Jamie Gormley| T: D Thompson| OR: 45

40/1

38-race maiden who hasn't remotely threatened to trouble the judge in ten starts during the course of 2019; look elsewhere with confidence.

Form: 098890

Non-Runners

(12)

Dandy Highwayman⁵

Weight: 9-8| Age: 5

T: Ollie Pears J: Harrison Shaw

(11)

Majdool²⁸

Weight: 8-13| Age: 6

T: N Wilson J: D Fentiman

(9)

Jagerbond¹²

Weight: 8-5| Age: 3

T: A Crook J: Paula Muir

Forecasts

Sophia Maria (10/3), Uncle Charlie (7/2), The Big House (5/1), Midnight In Havana (5/1), Kodimoor (7/1), Dandy Highwayman (15/2), Sharrabang (12/1), Rebel State (16/1), Majdool (16/1), Here's Rocco (20/1), Magical Molly Joe (25/1), Isabella Ruby (33/1), Jagerbond (33/1), Lord Rob (40/1)

An open contest which seemingly isn't quite as deep as the earlier division in terms of lurking future winners. The improving filly Sophia Maria is a fairly obvious angle. She has solid C&D form (on soft) and by winning by a small margin at Newcastle subsequently has probably kept ahead of the handicapper. Other bang-in-form horses include the likes of Kodimoor and Sharrabang, with the latter possibly inconvenienced by a wide draw (stall 13). Therefore, in pursuit of greater value we'll elect to take a chance on the lightly-raced three-year-old MIDNIGHT IN HAVANA who was a fair keeping on third on return to the track at Newcastle a fortnight ago.