14:00 Wexford

Monday 28 October 2019

All12:5013:2514:0014:3515:1015:4516:20

IRIS Opportunity Handicap Hurdle (80-109)

Off time: 14:00 | Winning time: 4m 24.40s

Shumaker¹²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-10| J: Darragh O'Keeffe| T: Paul Traynor| OR: 105| D

9/10

Racing more prominently has brought out the best of this hat-trick seeking gelding who followed up a win at Fairyhouse with an improved effort at Punchestown 12 days ago; excellent chance though heavy ground is slight concern.

Form: F/92-711

Stander^t1³⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-10| J: A W Short| T: P Stafford| OR: 105| D

33/1

Has been busy on the Flat but not seen out over hurdles since disappointing in first-time cheekpieces in April; is slowly slipping down the weights but does not stand out as an obvious winner given he has no proven form on expected going.

Form: 074950-

Crazyheart^p¹⁴⁷

Age: 8| Weight: 11-7| J: Liam Quinlan⁽⁴⁾| T: P Nolan| OR: 102| CD

5/2

More of a chaser these days and has only run in two hurdles events in the past three years; has ability but difficult to see him being good enough though he has run well in testing conditions before.

Form: 3132-34

Dandjira⁸⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-4| J: H Morgan⁽⁴⁾| T: Mrs J Harrington| OR: 103

7/1

Placed on the Flat when trained in France and has shown some ability both on the level and over hurdles since joining new connections; capable but does not look particularly well handicapped.

Form: 3330

Punters Poet¹⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: A M King⁽⁴⁾| T: S Fahey| OR: 97

33/1

Has shown bits and pieces of ability over hurdles but produced a woeful seasonal reappearance run at Fairyhouse earlier this month and has plenty to prove here.

Form: 5968-0

Trenchtown Rock⁵¹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-11| J: Ricky Doyle| T: V T O'Brien| OR: 92| CD

8/1

Both hurdles wins have come here over this trip with the latest coming in April; has been in fair form since with best effort coming on penultimate start at Bellowstown; leading chance if running up to the best of his form.

Form: 1-00625

Jack Wade¹⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 10-10| J: B Browne⁽²⁾| T: P J Rothwell| OR: 91

20/1

Fairly inconsistent but not without ability; disappointed last time at Fairyhouse having previously run well at Downpatrick; hard to trust and not likely to be suited by testing ground.

Form: 4380-60

Quay Melodie¹²

Age: 6| Weight: 10-4| J: J P O'Sullivan⁽⁴⁾| T: W J Martin| OR: 85

16/1

Pulled up in a couple of point-to-points in the spring and beaten wide margins in three maiden hurdles since; an unlikely candidate.

Form: P-P769

Forecasts

Shumaker (9/10), Crazyheart (5/2), Dandjira (7/1), Trenchtown Rock (8/1), Quay Melodie (16/1), Jack Wade (20/1), Stander (33/1), Punters Poet (33/1)

If SHUMAKER handles the expected testing ground then he has every chance of landing his hat-trick given his seemingly progressive profile and the confidence he must be feeling. Trenchtown Rock is a course and distance specialist and has been running well over slightly further suggesting the bottomless ground might not inconvenience him too much; he should run his usual consistent race. Dandjira is a slightly unknown quantity but is well regarded and certainly capable of winning a similar race to this.