15:00 Southwell

Thursday 19 December 2019

All13:3014:0014:3015:0015:3016:0016:30

Betway Heed Your Hunch Handicap

Off time: 15:01 | Winning time: 2m 27.86s

(3)

Elegant Love²¹

Age: 3| Weight: 9-10| J: B A Curtis| T: P D Evans| OR: 66

5/1

Consistent since winning a 1m2f seller at Chepstow (good) in September, also demonstrating that she handles some cut underfoot (soft/heavy) on turf; interesting in a weak race on Fibresand debut.

Form: 241224

(6)

Saxo Jack^p,t¹⁷

Age: 9| Weight: 9-10| J: G Lee| T: Mrs S Leech| OR: 63| D

66/1

Took a heavy fall at Newton Abbot in June 2018 and hasn't managed to beat a single rival in two starts in 2019, including when slowly away on Tapeta at Wolverhampton (1m1½f) 17 days ago; look elsewhere.

Form: 3/433-80

(10)

Visor^h²⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 9-9| J: Nicola Currie| T: J R Fanshawe| OR: 62

4/1

Maiden (0-10); flopped on testing ground (2-5f) at Nottingham (1m6f, soft) on his penultimate outing and blew the start when a never dangerous third to Spirit of Angel at Newcastle (1m4½f) four weeks ago; Fibresand debut.

Form: 9-47243

(11)

Harbour Quay^p²⁰⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 9-8| J: Liam Keniry| T: P R Chamings| OR: 61

16/1

Maiden (0-8); weakened deep inside the final furlong when fourth of five to Izvestia in a seller at Leicester (1m2f, good to firm) in May; has since left the care of Robyn Brisland.

Form: 323564

(8)

Fayetta^b¹²

Age: 3| Weight: 9-7| J: David Probert| T: D Loughnane| OR: 63

8/1

Maiden (0-18); runner-up on three occasions since the summer (Pontefract, Galway and Wolverhampton); is easing in the weights and should shed the maiden tag (probably over 1m4f) eventually; shortlisted.

Form: 295462

(12)

Grandscape⁴⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 9-7| J: Miss Sophie Smith⁽⁷⁾| T: E A L Dunlop| OR: 60

7/1

Sole win came under Sophie Smith at Redcar (1m2f, soft) in October 2018; was beaten 11L by Restive on Fibresand debut (1m6f) 44 days ago; dropped 2lb in the weights since.

Form: 585842

(2)

Sociologist^p¹⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 9-6| J: Jonathan Fisher⁽⁷⁾| T: S Dixon| OR: 59| CD

5/1

C&D maiden winner last November (beat Knightly Spirit by 7L); in reasonable fettle (232) in recent weeks, most latterly when finding the unexposed Angel Lane 3¾L stronger over 1m4f here a fortnight ago.

Form: 556232

(5)

Mousebird¹⁴⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 9-6| J: Charlie Bennett| T: H Morrison| OR: 62

28/1

Zoffany filly with a broadly regressive profile; switches to the AW for the first-time (for her second handicap start) off a 144-day absence; can only be monitored at this stage.

Form: 9877

(4)

Dolly McQueen²¹

Age: 3| Weight: 9-3| J: William Carson| T: A Carson| OR: 59| CD

13/2

Shot clear from the two furlong pole when winning a C&D median auction maiden by 7L on her penultimate start; that form is essentially modest and the handicapper has taken evasive action with a 13lb weights rise.

Form: 742015

(1)

Chinese Alphabet^b1²³

Age: 3| Weight: 9-2| J: Alistair Rawlinson| T: M Appleby| OR: 58

16/1

Maiden (0-11), albeit twice placed at Ffos Las (1m2f-1m4f) for William Knight during August; folded tamely after forcing the pace on debut for Mick Appleby at Wolverhampton (1m4f); blinkers are hastily applied for Fibresand debut.

Form: 532580

(7)

Imperial Focus¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 9-0| J: Phil Dennis| T: S Waugh| OR: 53

11/1

Longstanding maiden (0-30); travelled smoothly into contention at the two furlong pole at Newcastle (1m4½f) a fortnight ago before failing to go through with his finishing effort (seventh of 14 to Sulafaat); Fibresand debut.

Form: 69-0407

(9)

Beechwood James^v²¹

Age: 3| Weight: 8-7| J: Jane Elliott| T: M Appleby| OR: 45

50/1

Maiden (0-9); has shown a modicum of ability, yet has continually disappointed since leaving Richard Hannon to join Mick Appleby (stablemate of Chinese Alphabet); is very difficult to fancy despite a free-falling handicap mark.

Form: 230008

Forecasts

Visor (4/1), Sociologist (5/1), Elegant Love (5/1), Dolly McQueen (13/2), Grandscape (7/1), Fayetta (8/1), Imperial Focus (11/1), Chinese Alphabet (16/1), Harbour Quay (16/1), Mousebird (28/1), Beechwood James (50/1), Saxo Jack (66/1)

An uninspiring affair which is truthfully little stronger than a seller. Therefore, the September Chepstow scorer Elegant Love must enter the thought process switched to a new racing surface. With form on soft/heavy turf, there's a fair chance that the Dave Evans-trained filly will appreciate the unique Fibresand surface. Meanwhile, Fayetta is an 18-race maiden who has threatened to win a race eventually for David Loughnane. However, the locally-trained SOCIOLOGIST bumped into an unexposed type in the shape of Angel Lane over 1m4f here a fortnight ago, and this four-year-old C&D maiden winner could well provide Scott Dixon with yet another Southwell success.