16:45 Newcastle

Wednesday 18 December 2019

All15:4516:1516:4517:1517:4518:1518:4519:15

Ladbrokes Home Of The Odds Boost Novice Median Auction Stakes

Off time: 16:46 | Winning time: 1m 11.12s

(2)

Splendidly⁹

Age: 2| Weight: 9-9| J: B A Curtis| T: K R Burke| CD

15/8

Garswood gelding. Made a perfect start to his career, getting up on the line in C&D maiden nine days ago. Form of that has yet to be tested but holds leading claims despite 7lb penalty.

Form: 1

(1)

Baileys Blues²⁷

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: F Norton| T: C & M Johnston| OR: 74

11/1

Showed progression from debut to finish second at Yarmouth (6f, heavy) in October but failed to match that form when sixth of 11 over 5f here last time out. Bit more needed but step up to 6f should help.

Form: 426

(3)

Bendy Spirit^p¹⁸

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: Sean Davis⁽³⁾| T: R A Fahey| OR: 74| BF

3/1

Has the most experience in the field but improving with racing, finishing a head second at Wolverhampton two starts ago before filling same position at Lingfield (7f) last time. Replication of that form should see him go close.

Form: 405322

(7)

Katelli⁹

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: Connor Murtagh⁽³⁾| T: R A Fahey

150/1

Dragon Pulse gelding who has winning pedigree, but flopped on first start when 18L last of nine in 5f contest here nine days ago. Likely to be more streetwise for this but even that requires a major improvement.

Form: 9

(5)

Kilconquhar²⁰

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: D Tudhope| T: D O'Meara

10/1

Made a respectable start to life when third of 11 at Wolverhampton (6f) last month but took a backward step when 10th of 12 at Chelmsford (6f) on latest start. Needs a bounce back but represents top yard.

Form: 30

(8)

Ventura Rascal

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: Shane Gray| T: K A Ryan

33/1

Fountain Of Youth gelding who cost £35,000. Half-brother to three winners including 6f scorer Flying Pursuit. Dam was a winner as a juvenile too. Worthy of a market check.

Form:

(4)

Xian Express⁵⁶

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: Alistair Rawlinson| T: M Appleby| OR: 82

3/1

Lightly-raced maiden but improving all the time. Registered career-best performance when taking 2nd at Navan (5f, soft) in October. Makes debut for this yard and interesting if there is market support.

Form: 4232

(9)

Buy Me Back¹⁹

Age: 2| Weight: 8-11| J: Adam J McNamara| T: A Watson| BF

12/1

Once-raced maiden. Sent off odds-on but turned over when second of 12 in 7f Kempton maiden on debut little over two weeks ago. Should be capable of better with experience.

Form: 2

(6)

Cock A Hoop

Age: 2| Weight: 8-11| J: P Mulrennan| T: B Haslam

40/1

Price rose significantly to 45,000 gns as a two-year-old. Ivawood filly. Half-sister to three winners including 6f winner Handytalk and and 1m scorer Jackie Ellis. Notable if there is market support on debut.

Form:

Forecasts

Splendidly (15/8), Bendy Spirit (3/1), Xian Express (3/1), Kilconquhar (10/1), Baileys Blues (11/1), Buy Me Back (12/1), Ventura Rascal (33/1), Cock A Hoop (40/1), Katelli (150/1)

An intriguing contest with winning-form on the table. Preference is for BENDY SPIRIT, who has taken a while to come to hand but is looking stronger all of the time. His recent narrow defeats on courses which may not suit him sets the form standard and could have found a good opportunity to get off the mark. Xian Express also falls into this bracket, and must be respected with his second place finish at Navan and could be anything for his new trainer, while the likes of Baileys Blues and Splendidly have solid form, but the latter may be held back by his 7lb penalty.