Paxtons Best Price Kverneland Horsch Metal Novices' Chase

Off time: 15:00 | Winning time: 4m 7.07s

Nietzsche^p1,t¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Henry Brooke| T: B Ellison| OR: 135| BF| D

2/1

Talented hurdler; and twice a winner over fences (Perth); novicey in defeat at Cartmel (2m½f) on his penultimate start; didn't appear to be in a great fettle prior to the race at Kelso latest, jinking and unseating his rider at the first fence.

Form: 01212U

Tonto's Spirit^h³⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: C O'Farrell| T: Mrs Dianne Sayer| OR: 132| C| D

11/8

Cartmel specialist; beaten a short-head by Nietzche at Perth (2m, good) in July; resumed winning ways with a fluent fencing, front-running display back in the Lakes (2m1½f, good to soft) 38 days ago; straightforward and sets the standard.

Form: 25-1021

River Frost⁴⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 11-0| J: R P McLernon| T: B Haslam| OR: 132| D

8/1

Promising hurdler for Alan King in 2016/17, winning three times; clearly has had issues since and hasn't looked tailor-made for chasing (0-2) either; a safe round of fencing is surely the primary objective on second start for Ben Haslam.

Form: P0/9F0-6

Saint Freule^h¹⁶⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-0| J: Blair Campbell⁽³⁾| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell| OR: 124| D

3/1

Headstrong front-runner, and point-to-point scorer; belatedly in the winners enclosure for Lucinda Russell at Hexham (2m, soft) last November, following up with a similar display back there in March; comes with risks attached on rules chasing debut.

Form: R/67113-

Forecasts

Tonto's Spirit (11/8), Nietzsche (2/1), Saint Freule (3/1), River Frost (8/1)

Lucinda Russell has only saddled seven runners (one winner) at Sedgefield since April 2015, so the headstrong and enigmatic Saint Freule is a notable entrant for the Perth & Kinross based handler. Winner of a point-to-point (Feb 2017), the chasing game may ultimately be his making, although given his flaky temperament he is a risky proposition. Nietzsche has possibly lost his confidence over fences after a novicey display at Cartmel (penultimate), and he never at any stage looked to be in the mood for jumping fences at Kelso. Therefore, the fluent-fencing and evidently much more straightforward TONTO'S SPIRIT offers the risk-free solution to this small-field affair.