15:20 Doncaster

Sunday 29 December 2019

All11:5512:2513:0013:3514:1014:4515:20

Happy New Year From MansionBet Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 15:20 | Winning time: 4m 8.22s

Clemento^b1²²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Aaron Anderson⁽⁷⁾| T: J & S Quinn| OR: 120| D

50/1

Won twice as a novice at Cartmel (2m1f) in 2018; pulled up on handicap debut at Wetherby (2m, soft) three weeks ago; eased 5lb since; reappears in newly fitted blinkers; others preferred.

Form: 11-P

Successor⁶⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: R P McLernon| T: J & A O'Neill| OR: 120

40/1

Won over fences for Joseph O'Brien at Wexford (2m4f, good) in July; less effective since, including on debut for Jonjo O'Neill at Worcester in October; reverts to hurdles for the first time since September 2017.

Form: 4-61765

Yaa Salaam^p1⁴⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-10| J: T Scudamore| T: D Pipe| OR: 118

4/1

5-12 on the Flat in Germany for A.Wohler; joined the Pipe yard for 45,000gns in October 2018; placed on all three starts over hurdles (2m); clear career best post wind surgery latest; cheekpieces are applied for handicap debut; intriguing.

Form: 32-2

Shanroe Tic Tec^b²²³

Age: 7| Weight: 11-8| J: Luca Morgan⁽⁷⁾| T: B Pauling| OR: 116| D

10/1

Rattled off a quickfire hat-trick in March (Sandown, Huntingdon and Market Rasen); higher in the weights as a result; set for his first competitive start since May (off for 223 days).

Form: 1114-03

Christopher Robin¹⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-7| J: R Johnson| T: T Lacey| OR: 115

16/1

With Joseph O'Brien when landing a Wexford maiden (2m, heavy) in March; disappointing on both starts since joining Tom Lacey for £30,000; is easing noticeably in the weights; Richard Johnson takes over in the saddle.

Form: 3012-80

Gunnery³⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-7| J: N de Boinville| T: N J Henderson| OR: 115| BF

2/1

Keen front-runner; hacked up (despite some anxious moments) at prohibitive odds at Market Rasen (2m2½f novices') in July; blew his chances by over-racing on handicap debut at Wincanton (2m4f) 38 days ago; now 3lb lower.

Form: 210

Twin Star^t²¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-7| J: L P Aspell| T: Noel Williams| OR: 115

3/1

Won twice on the Flat either side of the Irish Sea (1m2f-1m5½f); is improving with experience gained over hurdles - finished 10¾L third to the promising West Cork at Huntingdon (2m, good to soft) three weeks ago; fair mark for handicap debut.

Form: 0-43

Val Mome³⁵¹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-6| J: Lorcan Murtagh⁽³⁾| T: D McCain Jnr| OR: 114| D

25/1

Short-head winner of a Bangor novice hurdle (2m½f, good) in October 2018, and is capable off this kind of mark as shown at Musselburgh; can be excused a couple of modest runs in early 2019 (the McCain string were troubled at the time).

Form: 517255-

The Twisler^p⁴⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-6| J: Harry Reed⁽³⁾| T: N P Mulholland| OR: 114

10/1

Both of his wins over hurdles were gained on a sound racing surface (good); sits 2lb lower than when beating Highest Sun by 4½L at Wincanton (1m7½f) in January; 0-6 (always unplaced) since.

Form: 166-667

Reverend Jacobs⁴⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 11-3| J: Charlie Hammond⁽³⁾| T: N Kent| OR: 111

33/1

Won three times on the Flat (all over 1m4f) for William Haggas before disappointing in three starts for Alan King (cost 100,000gns in October 2018); is steadily getting to grips with hurdling for Nick Kent, and should make his mark in handicaps.

Form: 0-84

Local Affair^h²²

Age: 3| Weight: 10-0| J: Aidan Coleman| T: C E Longsdon| OR: 107

12/1

Faces a stiff task as the sole 3yo in the line-up (does receive weight allowances); stayed on with tail flashing when finishing 17L third to Midnights' Gift in a 2m1f Listed contest for fillies' at Aintree (gd/sft) three weeks ago.

Form: 2433

Non-Runners

Zig Zag³²

Weight: 11-11| Age: 6

T: P A Kirby J: Thomas Dowson

Forecasts

Gunnery (2/1), Twin Star (3/1), Yaa Salaam (4/1), The Twisler (10/1), Shanroe Tic Tec (10/1), Local Affair (12/1), Christopher Robin (16/1), Val Mome (25/1), Zig Zag (25/1), Reverend Jacobs (33/1), Successor (40/1), Clemento (50/1)

Gunnery will struggle until curbing his enthusiasm, while the improving Reverend Jacobs and Val Mome will probably win a similar handicap in the near future for their respective trainers. However, this can go the way of a handicap debutant with both Twin Star (Noel Williams) and YAA SALAAM (David Pipe) somewhat intriguing individuals. The selection was a talented Flat performer in Germany, and he ran his best race over hurdles to date (post wind surgery) when runner-up to Hold That Taught at Lingfield (2m, heavy) six weeks ago. In newly applied cheekpieces he's preferred to the Leighton Aspell-ridden runner.