16:05 Fontwell

Saturday 5 October 2019

All13:5014:2515:0015:3016:0516:4017:15

Sky Sports Racing Virgin 535 Novices' Hurdle

Off time: 16:05 | Winning time: 4m 49.40s

Shut The Box²⁰¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: Tom Cannon| T: C Gordon

10/3

Got off the mark over hurdles at the second attempt at Plumpton in March, having run behind Triumph Hurdle winner Pentland Hills previously. Also strong bumper form, should give this a go despite carrying a penalty on return.

Form: 3/3451-

Galtee Mountain¹⁵²

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: Page Fuller⁽³⁾| T: P G Murphy

100/1

Three-figure prices in maiden/novice hurdle starts at Warwick in April/May and unable to stay competitive come the business end. Not hard to look elsewhere on form for this.

Form: 908-9

Jackson Hill^t1¹⁴⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: Kevin Jones⁽³⁾| T: M F Harris

16/1

Showed promise early on in bumpers, though has gone wrong way since his wind operation. Pulled up on hurdles bow at Huntingdon in May (2m4½f, good); he returns starting for a third handler in just his sixth race. Watching brief.

Form: 2/344-P

Likeabatoutofhell²⁰³

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: J E Moore| T: C Gordon

66/1

Son of Virtual bought cheaply for €5,000 as a three-year-old. Half-brother to today's rival Shut The Box, but looks unlikely to take home family bragging rights.

Form: 9-

Minella Beat³¹¹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: G Sheehan| T: Jamie Snowden

10/11

Point-to-point winner, last spotted chasing home subsequent Grade 1-winning novice hurdler Battleoverdoyen in a bumper at Punchestown 311 days ago. Sold since for £140,000 and one to note on hurdles/stable debut.

Form: 1/32-

Neff²³

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: Joshua Moore| T: G & J Moore

16/1

Half-brother to fairly useful hurdler Nyanza, winner of 1m2f soft-ground Lingfield handicap on the Flat in May. Could be an improver now going jumping and yard's runners here need respecting.

Form:

Nessfield Blue¹⁵²

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: M D Grant| T: P G Murphy

100/1

Pair of wide-margin defeats at Warwick over timber since joining this trainer ensure he has plenty to prove at the moment. May need a bit more time.

Form: 906-3

Pres¹⁹⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: L P Aspell| T: C Gordon

5/1

Placed in an Irish point-to-point and has shown glimpses of ability since going over timber for new trainer. Likely will do better once going handicapping in the near future.

Form: 3/6366-

Freedom Run²⁹⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 10-5| J: Adam Wedge| T: Miss E C Lavelle

15/2

Nicely-bred mare, showed promise in bumpers but always held on hurdles bow at Ludlow (2m5f, soft; 20-1) back in December. Off since, will need to improve but that is certainly possible.

Form: 6/245-

Fu Fu¹⁰¹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-5| J: James Best| T: R Walford

20/1

Runner-up on hurdles bow over C&D in June on good to soft, that was an improvement on bumper form but she couldn't repeat it a fortnight later at Ffos Las (good). Given a break since, interesting to see which way she goes now.

Form: 84-726

Honey P⁵¹⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 10-5| J: W T Kennedy| T: R Woodman

100/1

Winged Love mare, beaten close to 50L on hurdles bow here over shorter in May 2018 and hasn't been sighted since. Hard to summon enthusiasm on return.

Form: 7/9-

Mrs Jack^h¹⁴⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 10-5| J: Brendan Powell| T: Mrs L C Jewell

100/1

All three runs came at Plumpton in the spring (two in maiden hurdles) and nothing to report from those efforts that would give her strong claims on this reappearance. Plenty to work on.

Form: 9P-0

Forecasts

Minella Beat (10/11), Shut The Box (10/3), Pres (5/1), Freedom Run (15/2), Neff (16/1), Jackson Hill (16/1), Fu Fu (20/1), Likeabatoutofhell (66/1), Nessfield Blue (100/1), Galtee Mountain (100/1), Honey P (100/1), Mrs Jack (100/1)

Plumpton winner Shut The Box is the standard-setter and he looks a likely improver tackling this longer trip. He is carrying a penalty however and he faces a potentially decent newcomer here in MINELLA BEAT. He chased home Battleoverdoyen in a Punchestown bumper 311 days ago and if he takes to hurdles like that rival did, he will take some stopping on debut for new connections. Fu Fu made a positive start over C&D but went backwards next time, ensuring she's got questions to answer, while jumping debutant Neff is one to monitor in the betting.