13:35 Lingfield

Monday 13 January 2020

All12:3513:0513:3514:0514:4015:1015:45

Eden Utilities Novices' Handicap Chase

Off time: 13:40 | Winning time: 5m 45.70s

Crossley Tender³⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 12-0| J: Nick Scholfield| T: P Henderson| OR: 107

6/1

Appeared to be on the up over fences (3m1½f Plumpton winner; heavy) before turning in a lousy effort (always in the rear) at Huntingdon five weeks ago; 7lb above that 'winning' mark; can't be ruled out of contention.

Form: 58-U128

Colonel Keating³⁹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-12| J: James Davies| T: R Rowe| OR: 105

11/4

Kept on for pressure when finishing 3L third to Pres on chasing debut here (2m7½f, heavy) in November - that was a career best performance; much more modest at Leicester since; one of the likelier candidates in a weak race.

Form: 8763-37

Flight To Milan^p1³³

Age: 7| Weight: 11-9| J: Mitchell Bastyan⁽⁵⁾| T: Evan Williams| OR: 102

11/2

17-race maiden (0-9 fences) who sports the dubious honour of newly applied cheekpieces; lacked any real fluency over his obstacles despite going down narrowly in a three-way tussle at Leicester (2m, gd/soft) in mid-December; chance.

Form: 7-42F63

Moromac⁴²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-1| J: Tom Cannon| T: C Gordon| OR: 94

13/2

Has hardly excelled in three starts over hurdles for Chris Gordon; from a family of chasers (a distant relation to Dublin Flyer) there could be better to come over the larger obstacles; a market watching/monitoring brief is advised.

Form: 6/5-878

Echo Watt^h³⁸⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-0| J: J J Burke| T: R Hobson| OR: 93

3/1

Heavy ground Ffos Las bumper winner (on debut in December 2017); hasn't proved to be any great shakes over hurdles (0-7) so we'll simply elect to wait and see how he fares over fences (debut).

Form: U65/8P9-

Dorado Dollar^b³⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-7| J: Kielan Woods| T: B I Case| OR: 86

7/1

Eight-race maiden; 17-2 when finishing almost 25L sixth (of eight) to Elite Garde on chasing debut at Leicester (2m6½f, good to soft); needs to do a whole lot better on this occasion in order to make his mark.

Form: 4-95066

Impulsive Leader^p⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 10-0| J: Page Fuller⁽³⁾| T: Miss Z C Davison| OR: 74

16/1

11-race maiden; outclassed (100-1) when a remote last of three on chasing debut at Plumpton (2m4f, soft) eight days ago; although out of the handicap proper, this is a much more realistic target; still can't be fancied.

Form: P9-0473

Bonne Nuit^p1⁵⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 10-0| J: Patrick Cowley⁽⁵⁾| T: B Barr| OR: 74

66/1

Has scarcely beaten a single rival in six previous starts (three bumpers and three novice/maiden hurdles); cheekpieces are applied on chasing debut; no chance barring accidents.

Form: 0-077P0

Positive Touch^h¹²

Age: 9| Weight: 10-0| J: Mark Galligan⁽⁷⁾| T: D L Williams| OR: 65

66/1

Has more letters than numbers next to his name; has shown no worthwhile form since winning a 3m maiden at Howick (only two finished) in February 2019; needs a minor miracle; look elsewhere.

Form: P/1P-PP6

Forecasts

Colonel Keating (11/4), Echo Watt (3/1), Flight To Milan (11/2), Crossley Tender (6/1), Moromac (13/2), Dorado Dollar (7/1), Impulsive Leader (16/1), Positive Touch (66/1), Bonne Nuit (66/1)

A thoroughly unappealing novices' handicap chase in which the soundest advice is to take the widest of possible berths. However, there will be a winner so in that respect this is an opportunity for the connections of one of the nine declared runners. Crossley Tender appeared to be on the up prior to a lousy effort at Huntingdon, while the 17-race maiden Flight To Milan is unlikely to ever get a better chance of winning. However, for very small stakes we'll take a speculative tilt at the chasing newcomer MOROMAC. His trainer Chris Gordon is proficient with such horses and with a chasing background to his pedigree he could feasibly take the necessary step forward.