17:30 Cheltenham

Saturday 26 October 2019

All14:0014:3515:1015:4516:2016:5517:30

Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Standard Open NH Flat Race

Off time: 17:37 | Winning time: 4m 11.80s

A Book Of Intrigue¹³⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 11-7| J: R Johnson| T: J G M O'Shea| DWS

33/1

Won Huntingdon bumper for Fergal O'Brien on second start last term then followed up on first run for current yard at Fontwell in June. Tough task under penalty but has the champion on board to help his cause.

Form: 3/1-1

Arctic Valley^t⁶⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: C Brace| T: G Hanmer| D

66/1

Made winnng debut under Rules when landing modest Worcester five-runner bumper in July and not disgraced when third under penalty at Stratford last time. This looks much tougher though.

Form: P5-13

Jac Brown¹⁵⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: T J O'Brien| T: Mrs D A Hamer| D

22/1

Showed pormise at big odds in bumpers at Newbury and Chepstow last term then won cosily at Ffos Las in May. Returns after summer break and has to raise his game but is not out of it.

Form: 04-1

Mahler's Promise¹⁴¹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-4| J: J McGrath| T: J W Mullins

14/1

€12,000 Mahler gelding won his ony start to date beating five rivals in Market Rasen bumper in July. Could be more to come and market may indicate level of stable confidence.

Form: 1

Arc Of Bubbles^t1

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: Paul O'Brien| T: Mrs H R J Nelmes

100/1

5,000 euro Arcadio gelding wears tongue-tie for this racecourse debut. Doesn't make particular appeal on paper and will probably find this a baptism of fire.

Form:

Barbados Buck's¹⁸¹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: H Cobden| T: P F Nicholls

7/1

Top yard has won this event twice in the last decade. Runner-up on only start in Irish point-to-point in April the purchased soon after for €210,000. From famly of Big Buck's and More Buck's and has to be considered on Rules debut.

Form: 2

Butte Montana

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: P J Brennan| T: F O'Brien

11/4

In-form yard won last two renewals of this race so has to be considered on first racecourse appearance. Presenting gelding cost €52,000 and dam is from family of useful Compliance and One Cool Cookie.

Form:

Grumpy Charley¹⁹³

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: T Scudamore| T: D Pipe| D

9/1

Half-brother to useful Air Horse One, cost £52,000. Won 2m point-to-point bumper in March on first outing then third in Exeter bumper on first Rules race for Chris Honour. Debut for quality in-form yard and is interesting.

Form: 13-

Mustang Alpha¹⁶⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: Max Kendrick| T: Jamie Snowden

6/1

Landed Irish maiden 3m point-to-point on debut in May then sold three days later to current connections for £135,000. By Stowaway out of winning dam who is half-sister to smart Noland. Yard 5-15 of late.

Form: 1

Sabbathical²¹⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: Isabel Williams| T: Evan Williams

50/1

Second in Garthorpe maiden point-to-point on only outing and bought since for £32,000. Much more needed to prove competitive at this level and may need a little more time.

Form: 2-

Stimulating Song^h²⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: Nick Scholfield| T: M F Harris

50/1

Signs of a little ability only start last term and has run creditably in two starts this campaign finishing close second at both Worcester and Market Rasen last month. Should win races but likely tofind a few too good here.

Form: 6-22

The Newest One

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: Sam Twiston-Davies| T: N & W Twiston-Davies

11/2

Oscar gelding closely related to yard's star hurdler The New One. Cost €88,000 at Sales last year. Makes debut here and will be of interest to many given pedigree. Well worth considering.

Form:

Time Flies By

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: B J Geraghty| T: N J Henderson

13/2

£88,000 Getaway gelding represents top connections and comes from good jumping family. Yard operating at 43% strike rate at present so will comand support and could go well on debut.

Form:

Lady In Hiding²³⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-7| J: L P Aspell| T: O Sherwood

16/1

€28,000 Stowaway mare who was promising fourth on debut at Newbury in March. Third-placed mare has won three hurdles since so form working out. Worth noting for signs of any market interest.

Form: 4-

Secret Court¹⁵⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 10-7| J: Ceris Biddle| T: R Dickin

100/1

Court Cave mare who beat only other finisher in modest point-to-point in May having shown poor form prior to that. Looks flattered and might find things tough here on Rules bow.

Form: P-P61

Non-Runners

Big G²²⁹

Weight: 11-0| Age: 4

T: D Skelton J: Harry Skelton

Carys' Commodity⁴⁰

Weight: 11-0| Age: 4

T: J & A O'Neill J: R P McLernon

Castledhem¹⁸⁵

Weight: 11-0| Age: 4

T: N J Gifford J: James Davies

Wee Goldie¹⁷¹

Weight: 11-0| Age: 5

T: Mrs H O Graham J: S Bowen

Bit On The Side¹⁷

Weight: 10-7| Age: 4

T: N & W Twiston-Davies J: Thomas Bellamy

Forecasts

Butte Montana (11/4), The Newest One (11/2), Mustang Alpha (6/1), Time Flies By (13/2), Barbados Buck's (7/1), Grumpy Charley (9/1), Carys' Commodity (10/1), Big G (12/1), Mahler's Promise (14/1), Bit On The Side (14/1), Lady In Hiding (16/1), Castledhem (16/1), Jac Brown (22/1), Wee Goldie (25/1), A Book Of Intrigue (33/1), Stimulating Song (50/1), Sabbathical (50/1), Arctic Valley (66/1), Secret Court (100/1), Arc Of Bubbles (100/1)

The Newest One and Barbados Buck's are both closely related to star performers and could be anything, while other newcomers such as Time Flies By and Big G are also respected. Fergal O'Brien has won this the last two years and his newcomer BUTTE MONTANA is a tentative selection to maintain the sequence at decent odds in a race the yard clearly target. They're in fine form at present too. Of the previous winners A Book Of Intrigue looks best, while Cary's Commodity should have won last time but swerved and unseated rider close home. Grumpy Charley and Mahler's Promise are others worth a glance.