14:25 Musselburgh

Monday 25 November 2019

All12:4513:2013:5514:2515:0015:30

Saltire Festival Handicap Chase

Off time: 14:25 | Winning time: 3m 58.0s

Cracking Destiny²²⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Callum Bewley| T: A C Whillans| OR: 115| D

13/2

With Ian Williams last season, winning twice over fences on a sound surface (Wincanton, 2m4f and Leicester, 2m); 6lb above his last winning mark on debut for Alistair Whillans; a noteworthy £35,000 purchase.

Form: 213143-

Sword Of Fate²³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: D R Fox| T: L Kerr| OR: 115| D

28/1

Won three times over fences for Tom Lacey (2m-2m5f); falling sharply in the handicap following an unflattering sequence of form figures which read; FPFPP; seemingly is a risky proposition nowadays.

Form: 3FP-FPP

Honourable Gent^h³⁹

Age: 11| Weight: 11-12| J: Craig Nichol| T: R Dobbin| OR: 115| D

15/2

An impressive 5-12 over fences; won unchallenged in an eventful race on return from a 12-month absence at Kelso (2m1f, good) in September; in the thick of things (probably held) when falling two out at Carlisle subsequently.

Form: 1323-1F

Sporting Press²³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-10| J: Danny McMenamin⁽⁵⁾| T: K Dalgleish| OR: 113| CD

7/4

Twice a winner at Musselburgh, including when beating King Golan by a neck (2m4½f, good) in March; 5lb higher here and not overly convincing this autumn; made mistakes on testing ground at Ayr (pulled up) latest.

Form: 113-53P

Lucky Robin⁶¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-9| J: B S Hughes| T: B Ellison| OR: 112| D

5/2

In fine fettle since getting the ball rolling over hurdles at Market Rasen (2m, good) in July, adding a further three wins to his CV; 5lb higher than when beating Double Court by 1¼L at Perth (2m, good to soft) in September; solid claims.

Form: 4-51111

Our Lucas¹¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-5| J: Ross Chapman| T: D Bourke| OR: 108| D

10/1

3-15 over hurdles and handles various underfoot conditions (strongest on soft); poor in three starts over fences for the Irish handler P.M.Cloke but much better for Daragh Bourke at Sedgefield (2m, soft) latest; may progress.

Form: 10-9805

Go West Young Man^v²²

Age: 11| Weight: 11-4| J: R D Day| T: Laura Morgan| OR: 107| D

12/1

Quirky isn't an accurate description of this veteran, he should come with a health/wealth warning; has the ability to win races (and has a fair form line with Lucky Robin) but his career record of 2-45 speaks volumes; entertain at your peril.

Form: R34846

Felix Mendelssohn^b¹⁹

Age: 8| Weight: 10-10| J: Sam Coltherd⁽³⁾| T: W Coltherd| OR: 99| D

20/1

Successful on his first couple of attempts over fences in the spring (Perth and Kelso) but very much back down to earth with a bump since; soon struggling over C&D 19 days ago; others readily preferred.

Form: 2-11398

Forecasts

Sporting Press (7/4), Lucky Robin (5/2), Cracking Destiny (13/2), Honourable Gent (15/2), Our Lucas (10/1), Go West Young Man (12/1), Felix Mendelssohn (20/1), Sword Of Fate (28/1)

It's noteworthy that Alistair Whillans saw fit to spend £35,000 on Cracking Destiny, while it's impossible to knock the fine fences strike-rate (5-12) of the Rose Dobbin-trained Honourable Gent. However, assuming that the ground conditions don't deteriorate further (beyond good to soft) a confident shout goes up for the five-timer seeking LUCKY ROBIN. Brian Ellison's seven-year-old has been given a short break since winning at Perth in September, and a subsequent 5lb weights rise looks lenient with that form franked since at Carlisle by the third-placed horse Le Frank.