17:05 Hexham

Friday 4 October 2019

All14:1514:5015:2516:0016:3517:05

Bob Johnson Memorial Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 17:06 | Winning time: 6m 9.54s

Pleney¹⁴²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Alan Johns| T: Tim Vaughan| OR: 100

5/1

Yet to make the frame from seven starts. 11½L fourth from 1lb higher mark at Chepstow in April. Not out of this on that basis, but has it to prove both over this far and on soft.

Form: 77994-P

Moorlands Mist^t³²

Age: 12| Weight: 11-10| J: Nathan Moscrop⁽³⁾| T: Sara Ender| OR: 98| CD

25/1

Made all to win this last year at 33-1 (good) and followed up over further at Sedgefield, before hitting the doldrums again. Now back on the same mark as last year's success, and no surprise to see him go close again. Acts on testing ground.

Form: 1PP6-06

Flying Jack^t¹²⁵

Age: 9| Weight: 11-2| J: D B Hurst⁽¹⁰⁾| T: M A Barnes| OR: 90| BF| C

33/1

2m4f winner here (good) in 2017, when 5lb higher. On a 12-race losing run since then, during which times his jumping has often been an issue. Hard to fancy at present.

Form: 3P56-4U

Our Nest Egg^h,t²³

Age: 6| Weight: 10-13| J: T J O'Brien| T: P Henderson| OR: 87

7/1

Yet to make the frame in 12 attempts. Has slipped to a workable mark, but it would take a leap of faith to be recommending her just yet on recent evidence.

Form: 04-5956

Court Baloo^p³²

Age: 8| Weight: 10-12| J: Ross Chapman| T: A C Whillans| OR: 86| CD

5/2

Inconsistent, but put some poor form behind him with a good ground C&D win last time, by 15L. Has gone up 10lb for that, which makes him tempting to stick with here, but he hasn't strung two decent efforts together for almost two years.

Form: 5P-7571

Vif Argent^h,t¹¹

Age: 10| Weight: 10-8| J: Lee Edwards| T: Dave Roberts| OR: 82

5/1

Loves to get his toe in and stays 3m2f. However, it is now over four years since his last time, and despite a finish in the money from this mark last time, he looks likely to find something to beat him again.

Form: 33-3U42

Simply Lucky^p,t³⁰

Age: 10| Weight: 10-7| J: Danny McMenamin⁽⁵⁾| T: M E Sowersby| OR: 81| D

15/2

3-25 over hurdles, his latest win coming at Uttoxeter in June over a similar trip (good to soft), when 6lb lower. Good effort back there last time, but couldn't win from 3lb lower, so needs to pull out extra.

Form: 616572

Pads⁸

Age: 9| Weight: 10-5| J: Alain Cawley| T: D Bourke| OR: 79

5/1

Has made the frame in five of his last six starts, the last four of them coming from today's mark. Trip and ground fine, but unless he can find more, he could be destined for the places again.

Form: 383232

Perseid⁷⁴

Age: 9| Weight: 10-0| J: Sean Quinlan| T: B Butterworth| OR: 68| D

10/1

6lb 'wrong' here. Without a win since 2016, and now on a 25-race losing run. Impossible to fancy on recent evidence.

Form: 0796-76

Non-Runners

For Jim³⁵

Weight: 11-12| Age: 7

T: J Candlish J: Sean Quinlan

Go To Court³⁰

Weight: 11-12| Age: 6

T: Micky Hammond J: Henry Brooke

Forecasts

Court Baloo (5/2), Pleney (5/1), Pads (5/1), Vif Argent (5/1), Go To Court (5/1), Our Nest Egg (7/1), Simply Lucky (15/2), Perseid (10/1), For Jim (10/1), Moorlands Mist (25/1), Flying Jack (33/1)

Pleney could do a bit better in this weak contest, but he has it to prove on this ground and the same goes for Go To Court. Pads and Simply Lucky find winning difficult, but that is not to rule them out of placed runs again here, while Court Baloo looks very tempting after a wide margin win, but a 10lb rise and his poor record at backing up a good run have to be concerns. Therefore, almost by default, it could be worth turning to MOORLANDS MIST, who won this from today's mark last year and could be primed for a repeat.