15:00 Newcastle

Thursday 9 January 2020

All12:1512:4513:2013:5514:2515:0015:3016:05

Ladbrokes Home Of The Odds Boost Novice Stakes (Plus 10)

Off time: 15:05 | Winning time: 1m 42.38s

(4)

Beechwood Jim Bob²⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: J Fanning| T: C & M Johnston

14/1

Cost €13,000 as a yearling; related to plenty of winners including useful miler Dancingwithwolves; and French-trained winners up to 1m2f. Shaped promisingly on debut at Chelmsford (1m, Polytrack) recently and should be involved if building on that.

Form: 3-

(7)

London Arch²⁷

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: B A Curtis| T: C Fellowes

15/8

Colt by Fastnet Rock. Dam was a winner over 1m4f in Britain and is a half-brother to three-time winner Al Neksh. Beaten 5L into second by an impressive winner on debut at Chelmsford (1m) last month. That run entitles him to plenty of respect.

Form: 2-

(5)

Lordofthehorizon

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: P Mulrennan| T: J & T Gosden

3/1

Half-brother to two winners (7f-1m1f); dam closely related to Group 3 winner Pacifique, half-sister to dam of Chicquita and Magic Wand. Second-string on jockey bookings but good pedigree and leading yard are 42/110 here, so has to be shortlisted.

Form:

(10)

Pablo Hernandez³³

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: Cam Hardie| T: D O'Meara

80/1

Zoffany colt; eighth foal from a twice-raced dam; half-brother to seven winners, including Ashadihan (6f-7f) and Mythical Madness (1m-1m2f). Beaten 18L into eighth on Wolverhampton (1m½f) last month and will need to improve to get involved.

Form: 8-

(8)

Phoenix Strike⁶⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: A Mullen| T: B Haslam

66/1

Well beaten at long-odds on both starts at this track (7f/1m) and likely to find life signficantly easier once switching to handicaps after this.

Form: 00-

(1)

Pitcher's Point

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: K T O'Neill| T: J & T Gosden

5/2

$800,000 yearling; half-brother to US 1m½f turf winner Hungry Kitten; dam US 1m/1m1f Grade 2 turf winner. Costly purchase with leading connections who do very well at this course and is likely to make his presence felt on debut.

Form:

(6)

Socially Shady¹³

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: Rhona Pindar⁽⁷⁾| T: K R Burke

28/1

Shaped well behind an impressive winner on debut at Wolverhampton (1m½f) last month but couldn't match it over the same C&D 13 days ago when finishing fifth. Has shown ability but will need more in order to get off the mark.

Form: 35-

(2)

Betushka

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: Sean Davis⁽³⁾| T: R A Fahey

40/1

Half-sister to winners Footlight (7f-1m3f)and Line House (7f); dam 7f/1m1f winner, half-sister to Group 2 and Group 3 winners. Yard in good form and do have winning newcomers but will need to be pretty decent to get off the mark in this contest.

Form:

(3)

Salsada²⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: G Lee| T: Jedd O'Keeffe

14/1

75,000 gns two-year-old who is related to US Grade 3 winner Qaraaba and a handful of others winners who were effective between 6f and 1m. Shaped nicely on debut over C&D last month (fifth of 13) and that form puts her bang there if she can improve.

Form: 5-

(9)

Velma⁴⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: Jason Hart| T: C W Fairhurst

12/1

Outran her 100/1 odds on debut when beaten 2L into fourth here (7f) but dropped in grade against her own sex last time she couldn't capatilise and finished third, beaten 4L. Likely to find this too tough but has shown enough to keep an eye on.

Form: 43-

Forecasts

London Arch (15/8), Pitcher's Point (5/2), Lordofthehorizon (3/1), Velma (12/1), Salsada (14/1), Beechwood Jim Bob (14/1), Socially Shady (28/1), Betushka (40/1), Phoenix Strike (66/1), Pablo Hernandez (80/1)

The two Gosden-trained newcomers Pitcher's Point and Lordofthehorizon look a formidable duo given their pedigrees and the yard's fantastic record at this course and cannot be overlooked. Of the form on offer, there is very little between BEECHWOOD JIM BOB and London Arch. The latter-named looked a shade one-paced at Chelmsford and so preference is for the Johnston-inmate. Salsada ran well on debut here and won't be far away if building on that.