12:30 Taunton

Thursday 12 December 2019

All12:3013:0013:3014:0514:3515:1015:40

Racing To School Novices' Hurdle (Div 1)

Off time: 12:30 | Winning time: 4m 10.5s

Eritage¹⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: H Cobden| T: P F Nicholls| OR: 133| CD

4/6

Dual bumper winner broke his maiden over hurdles at the second attempt when winning by 19L over C&D on good-to-soft ground last month. Penalised for that success and strong claims once more.

Form: 131-F51

Rococo River²¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Lizzie Kelly⁽³⁾| T: Mrs J Williams| OR: 115

40/1

Novice hurdle winner at Exeter (good) in May and placed at Newton Abbot (good-to-soft) in September. Both those efforts came over an extended 2m2f. Disappointed back over hurdles last time and more needed in this contest.

Form: 63-12F8

Ask Robin^t1²⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 10-12| J: G Sheehan| T: Jamie Snowden

33/1

Good ground point-to-point winner over 3m in May last year but has had just two subsequent starts. Returning from well over 12 months off the track when 20L fifth in a C&D maiden hurdle last month and is fitted with a tongue tie for the first time.

Form: 23/14-5

Equus Gold¹⁹⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: James Best| T: K Woollacott| BF| D

40/1

Point-to-point bumper winner over 2m at Barbury Castle (good) in February and was beaten 9L when placed in a similar race at Stratford (good) at the end of May. Worth a check in the market on stable and hurdles debut.

Form: 1-3

Escapability^p²³

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: Alexander Thorne⁽⁷⁾| T: A King

20/1

14 race maiden finished a fair 22L sixth at Wincanton (good) on hurdling debut in October. Decent effort on the AW subsequently and market support would be notable back over hurdles.

Form: 6

Flou Artsistique^h1²²⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: T Scudamore| T: D Pipe

33/1

Ran well when finishing 2L fourth in a small field bumper at Lignieres (1m4f, soft) in April. Changed stables since and wears a hood for the first time on hurdling debut.

Form: 4

Kauto The King^t⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: R M Power| T: C L Tizzard| OR: 114

6/1

Ten race maiden ran well in a soft ground 2m3f maiden hurdle here in March. Beaten 32L when runner-up next time out and interesting to see how he fares here following a heavy defeat on handicap debut earlier this month.

Form: 5462-27

Masters Legacy²⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: M G Nolan| T: P Hobbs & J White

5/2

Ran well to finish runner-up in a C&D maiden hurdle on good going when making his racecourse debut last month. Improvement likely and he is an interesting runner in this event.

Form: 2

Richardson¹²

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: L Heard| T: J Groucott

250/1

Well beaten in a bumper and two starts over hurdles to date most recently in a heavy ground contest over an extended 2m at Bangor just under two weeks ago. Others make more appeal.

Form: 8-07

Seasearch^t²⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: David Noonan| T: C J Gray

100/1

Stepped up markedly on hurdling debut effort when finishing 5½L fourth in a maiden hurdle over this C&D on god ground last time out. Tongue tie worn for the first time that day is retained.

Form: 04

When You're Ready¹⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: R Johnson| T: J & A O'Neill

25/1

Placed in a point-to-point earlier this year and finished a decent 1L third in a 2m bumper at Warwick (good) on Rules debut in May. Satisfactory fifth in a soft ground bumper at Southwell last month but more needed on hurdling debut.

Form: 2-35

French Mix^h1³⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 10-5| J: Adam Wedge| T: Alexandra Dunn

100/1

Victorious six times on the Flat and amateur ridden in recent seasons. Fair sixth off a mark of 76 over 1m4f at Kempton early last month and wears a hood for the first time on hurdles debut.

Form:

Lady Of Authority³⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 10-5| J: Daniel Hiskett⁽³⁾| T: R T Phillips

200/1

Twice a winner on the AW most recently over 1m4f at Wolverhampton in May. Struggled on both starts over hurdles however and others hold stronger claims.

Form: 09

Forecasts

Eritage (4/6), Masters Legacy (5/2), Kauto The King (6/1), Escapability (20/1), When You're Ready (25/1), Flou Artsistique (33/1), Ask Robin (33/1), Rococo River (40/1), Equus Gold (40/1), Seasearch (100/1), French Mix (100/1), Lady Of Authority (200/1), Richardson (250/1)

MASTERS LEGACY showed up well when runner-up on debut and he can go one better by taking this opening novices' hurdle event. The selection hails from a good yard and he can get the better of Eritage who can claim second place here ahead of hurdling debutant Flou Artsistique who ran well on her only start in France.