15:10 Newcastle

Saturday 4 January 2020

All11:5012:2512:5513:3014:0014:3515:10

Parklands Golf Club Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 15:11 | Winning time: 4m 22.7s

Gennady²⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Craig Nichol| T: K Dalgleish| OR: 117| D

11/2

Justified sustained market support when beating Monfass by 4½L at Kelso (2m, good to soft) in October; has run respectively in defeat since (third to an improving type at Sedgefield latest); shortlisted despite being 9lb above that 'winning' mark.

Form: 654143

Al Kherb¹⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 11-12| J: Danny Cook| T: J & S Quinn| OR: 117| D

7/1

Joined John Quinn from Roger Charlton for 40,000gns in October 2018; returns to hurdles (1-5) after a recent Flat pipe-opener (Southwell); makes his handicap debut from an opening mark of 117.

Form: 35103-

Raashdy²⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-10| J: Jonathan England| T: S England| OR: 115| D

14/1

Ridden out to see off Darry Desbois by ½L when winning a Hexham maiden (2m, good) in September; finished two places (and 17L) behind Gennady on handicap debut at Sedgefield (2m1f, soft) four weeks ago.

Form: 2135

Bluefortytwo^h²⁷³

Age: 7| Weight: 11-10| J: Nathan Moscrop⁽³⁾| T: J Ewart| OR: 115WS

14/1

Lightly raced (bought for £55,000 in February 2018); beaten 4L by Largy Prospect in a 2m4½f novices' hurdle at Ayr (soft) in March before a lacklustre effort here next time; has had wind surgery ahead of this handicap debut (off for 273 days).

Form: 24/627-

Our Lucas⁴⁰

Age: 8| Weight: 11-7| J: Ross Chapman| T: D Bourke| OR: 112| D

20/1

Won off this mark over hurdles for Iain Jardine at Perth in August 2018; hasn't shown a massive amount over fences since for the Irish handler P.M.Cloke, and more latterly for Daragh Bourke (0-2).

Form: 0-98055

Point Break⁹⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 11-7| J: Danny McMenamin⁽⁵⁾| T: Mrs A Hamilton| OR: 112

3/1

Maiden; was on the rise for Ann Hamilton early last year (finished a very tired third in the 2m novices' contest on this card 12 months ago); well beaten by a stablemate of Gennady on seasonal reappearance at Kelso (2m, soft) in October.

Form: 36323-6

Celtic Flames^p²⁴

Age: 10| Weight: 11-5| J: D R Fox| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell| OR: 110| D

7/1

4lb higher than when nailing the then in-form Jaunty Thor by a neck at Perth (2m4f, good) in September 2018; posted a promising comeback run (third) at Hexham (2m4f, heavy) 24 days ago - stablemate Haul Us In (second) has run well since.

Form: 14/541-3

Robeam^p²¹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-5| J: B S Hughes| T: B Ellison| OR: 122

5/1

Beat yesterday's Musselburgh winner Tabou Beach Boy by 32L when making a winning hurdles debut at Sedgefield (2m1f maiden, soft) in October; has faced some stiff tasks since and this is a more realistic objective; handicap debut.

Form: 134

Ted Veale²⁹

Age: 13| Weight: 11-4| J: Mr Kit Alexander⁽⁵⁾| T: N W Alexander| OR: 109| D

12/1

Veteran of 64 races under rules (11 wins); evidently isn't the force of old, so it's pleasing to see the handicapper cutting him some slack; 21lb lower than when third to Winston C in a Class 2 handicap at Kelso (2m. good) in March.

Form: 33-6076

Crackdeloust^p²¹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-0| J: Henry Brooke| T: B Ellison| OR: 105

20/1

Rated 10lb lower than when beating Niceandeasy by 2¼L at Catterick (2m3½f, soft) in January 2018; well beaten on both starts since returning from a 20-month absence; is difficult to evaluate, albeit it's hard to be confident about his chances.

Form: 4158/P0

Forecasts

Point Break (3/1), Robeam (5/1), Gennady (11/2), Celtic Flames (7/1), Al Kherb (7/1), Ted Veale (12/1), Raashdy (14/1), Bluefortytwo (14/1), Crackdeloust (20/1), Our Lucas (20/1)

From a handicapping perspective it's pleasing to see the veteran Ted Veale and the seemingly troubled Crackdeloust cut some slack, while Point Break possesses more ability than the basic headline statement of "ten-race maiden". However, a far safer approach is to focus upon those horses in better form. Celtic Flames shaped like a certain future winner on his comeback at Hexham 24 days ago (form boosted by stablemate Haul Us In at Ayr on Thursday). However, the preferred choice is the top-weight GENNADY. He made light work of an opening mark of 108 when landing a gamble on handicap debut at Kelso (2m) in October, and could yet have more too offer.