15:35 Ripon

Saturday 28 September 2019

All13:5514:3015:0515:3516:1016:4517:20

Ripon Cathedral City Of The Dales Handicap

Off time: 15:38 | Winning time: 1m 13.87s

(3)

Muntadab¹⁶⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 10-5| J: Paula Muir⁽⁵⁾| T: R Fell & S Murray| OR: 107| D

16/1

In good form last autumn winning three times at 7f; not seen since his reappearance run in April. Awkward to place now off his current mark this trip may be a little on the short side these days (not seen over 6f since Ayr Gold Cup last year).

Form: 72112-2

(5)

Gunmetal⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 9-10| J: J Fanning| T: T D Barron| OR: 98| CD

9/2

Not quite at his best this year until finishing a fair ninth in the Ayr Gold Cup last weekend (second home on the stands side; first-time blinkers). C&D winner who runs off a 3lb lower mark now (blinkers removed), wouldn't want any further rain.

Form: 460009

(8)

Cold Stare^t⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 9-9| J: R P Downey| T: D O'Meara| OR: 97| D

9/1

Very well suited by the testing conditions when winning at Haydock in a first-time tongue-tie prior to wind surgery. Returned from that procedure to finish midfield (Ayr Gold Cup); appreciates soft/heavy ground; should be sharper for his last start.

Form: 82-9010

(9)

Baron Bolt^b²⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 9-7| J: Rossa Ryan| T: P & O Cole| OR: 95| D

15/2

Yet to really find his form this year having landed the Ayr Gold Cup last season off a 6lb higher mark. Various changes of headgear (now back in blinkers) don't appear as yet to have produced any progress; well handicapped but comes with risks.

Form: 1-56004

(6)

Muscika^v⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 9-1| J: Cam Hardie| T: D O'Meara| OR: 89| D

6/1

Falling back to a mark that's commensurate with his last winning one having shown up well for the most part in big-field sprints since his 6f Thirsk win in May. Not disgraced in the Ayr Silver Cup last time; hard to rule out in this company.

Form: 224608

(7)

Citron Major^p,t⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 9-1| J: Rowan Scott⁽³⁾| T: N Tinkler| OR: 89| CD

6/1

Produced a rare below-par effort in the Ayr Gold Cup (slow away) having shown some decent form earlier in the season winning at York (7f) and Windsor (6f). Previous C&D winner also finished third in Great St Wilfrid; type who could bounce back.

Form: 031340

(4)

Flying Pursuit^p,t⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 8-11| J: Rachel Richardson| T: T D Easterby| OR: 85| CD

3/1

Three-time C&D winner including this contest in 2017 off a mark of 96 (off 85 today); only recorded one win since that success. This headgear combination appeared to provide the catalyst to a better run last time (Ayr Silver Cup), finished fifth.

Form: 850085

(1)

Diamond Dougal^v1²⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 8-10| J: K T O'Neill| T: M R Channon| OR: 84| D

12/1

Recent efforts have rather belied his decent start to the season when he won on seasonal debut at Windsor (6f, good) off a 5lb higher mark. Not seen to best effect last time (poorly drawn); others do have more persuasive claims though.

Form: 547755

(2)

Bossipop^b¹⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 8-9| J: D Allan| T: T D Easterby| OR: 83| CD

9/1

Pair of C&D victories to his name this year (three-time C&D winner in total) but all those wins have come in a lower grade. Not in quite the same form of late as his last C&D win; remains 3lb above his last winning mark; others a more solid option.

Form: 889826

Forecasts

Flying Pursuit (3/1), Gunmetal (9/2), Muscika (6/1), Citron Major (6/1), Baron Bolt (15/2), Cold Stare (9/1), Bossipop (9/1), Diamond Dougal (12/1), Muntadab (16/1)

Five of the field represent the Ayr Gold/Silver Cup form with last year’s winner of the Gold version Baron Bolt who didn’t look to retain his crown this year starting to look very well handicapped. Gunmetal is another who lurks on a dangerous mark but the ground may scupper his chance and this looks as though it may provide Ayr Silver Cup fifth FLYING PURSUIT with a chance to add to his three C&D victories having looked to have refound his spark of late under positive rides. Muscika is hard to rule out along with Muntadab although the biggest danger looks to be Cold Stare with his midfield slot in the Ayr Gold Cup looking to tee him up for an autumn campaign.