safersurfacing.co.uk Novices' Hurdle

Off time: 14:51 | Winning time: 6m 17.0s

Echiquier²⁶²

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: D A Jacob| T: N & W Twiston-Davies| OR: 136

1/4

French chase winner (2m3½f, heavy) in January 2018. Not seen since January of this year, and has changed hands since. Gets the cut in the ground that he clearly enjoys, in good hands and no surprise to see him go well.

Form: 1/35F52-

Speak Of The Devil²⁰⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: S Mulqueen⁽³⁾| T: Miss Lucinda V RussellWS

4/1

Debut maiden point winner last December. Showed promise in a couple of hurdles last season. Has had a wind operation since he was last seen. Chasing likely to be his forte, but couldn't rule out a win over hurdles prior to that.

Form: 135-

Elle Est Grande¹⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 10-5| J: B S Hughes| T: K Dalgleish| BF

9/1

Beaten favourite in a mares' maiden point in Ireland in March. Changed hands for £40,000 in April. Sent off favourite on rules debut in a Kelso bumper last month (2m, good), but weakened out of it. This trip more like it, but plenty to prove.

Form: 2-4

Forecasts

Echiquier (1/4), Speak Of The Devil (4/1), Elle Est Grande (9/1)

Clearly not easy to assess, but if the handicapper has got the initial British mark of ECHIQUIER right, then he looks the one to beat. Speak Of The Devil will probably be better for having a fence to jump, but could chase home the selection, with Elle Est Grande arriving with a bit to prove, albeit likely to be better suited by this stamina test than her rules debut.