12:45 Ludlow

Wednesday 8 January 2020

All12:4513:1513:4514:1514:4515:1515:45

Join RacingTV Now Juvenile Hurdle

Off time: 12:45 | Winning time: 3m 53.80s

Mick Pastor^t1⁵³

Age: 4| Weight: 11-4| J: B J Geraghty| T: P F Nicholls| BF

6/4

Won at Auteuil in France (2m1½f, heavy) prior to joining Nicholls and McManus; sent off 5-2f for a Grade 2 contest at Cheltenham (2m½f, soft) in November - well beaten sixth of ten to Allmankind; now sports a tongue-tie.

Form: 16

Prefontaine^b²⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 11-4| J: Jonjo O'Neill Jr.| T: J & A O'Neill| OR: 128| D

9/2

Quirky; inconsistent over hurdles to date, failing to progress (albeit in graded company) since beating Paeso by 2½L at Kempton (2m, good) in October; should appreciate the switch to this Flat track; can't be discounted.

Form: U2176

Hydroplane²⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: T J O'Brien| T: Ian Williams

16/1

Won three times on the Flat (1m2f-1m4f) during the height of the summer; finished a modest eighth of 15 on hurdles debut at Warwick (2m, soft) four weeks ago.

Form: 8

Leading Knight^h1

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: David Bass| T: B Pauling

20/1

Fourth foal (unsold at €16,500 as a foal); hooded as he starts his racing career for a respected handler; is a half-brother to the bumper winner Dares To Dream.

Form:

Peckinpah²⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: Thomas Bellamy| T: A King

14/1

Flat maiden (0-6); placed off a mark of 71 at Wolverhampton (1m1½f) in April; whipped around at the start and slowly away on hurdles debut at Plumpton (2m1½f, soft) four weeks ago.

Form: 4

Percy Alexander^p²¹

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: Brendan Powell| T: C J Mann

66/1

Won on the AW at Wolverhampton (1m1½f) for former handler James Tate; joined this trainer for 14,000gns in May; started 33-1 for hurdles debut at Newbury (2m+, soft) three weeks ago, finishing sixth of 11 to Fraser Island.

Form: 6

Torolight¹²

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: J McGrath| T: N J Henderson

16/1

Runner-up (beaten 5L) on the AW at Kempton (1m4f) in early December; either side of that effort he's looked far removed from the top rank of hurdlers at Seven Barrows.

Form: 46

Twpsyn^v²⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: Kielan Woods| T: P D Evans

33/1

Stayed on strongly to score from a mark of 61 at Southwell (1m4f Class 6 handicap) in November; weakened quickly when tailed-off on hurdles debut at Warwick (2m, soft) subsequently.

Form: 7

Lucky Circle¹³

Age: 4| Weight: 10-5| J: Patrick Cowley⁽⁵⁾| T: M Keighley

100/1

Lowly rated Flat maiden (0-7); no positives whatsoever to take from his opening couple of starts over hurdles; look elsewhere confidently.

Form: 9P

Operatic Export³²

Age: 4| Weight: 10-5| J: Sam Twiston-Davies| T: Dr R D P Newland

2/1

Former Irish racer (Jim Bolger); joined the Grand National winning trainer Dr Richard Newland for 18,000gns at the Newmarket Autumn Sale; in deep at Listed level (Aintree, 2m1f soft) on hurdles debut; this looks more realistic; still early days.

Form: 5

Forecasts

Mick Pastor (6/4), Operatic Export (2/1), Prefontaine (9/2), Peckinpah (14/1), Hydroplane (16/1), Torolight (16/1), Leading Knight (20/1), Twpsyn (33/1), Percy Alexander (66/1), Lucky Circle (100/1)

Prefontaine has the necessary ability to take such a contest in his stride, but as a somewhat quirky and difficult to predict character he's nearly always opposed. It remains early days over hurdles for the Dr Richard Newland-trained filly Operatic Export who will surely be better suited by this much easier assignment than at Aintree (Listed contest). However, with a tongue-tie now added to MICK PASTOR, the JP McManus-owned former French racer really deserves another chance to fulfil his undoubted potential over timber.