16:45 Newcastle

Friday 31 January 2020

All16:1516:4517:1517:4518:1518:4519:15

Bombardier British Hopped Amber Beer Apprentice Handicap

Off time: 16:48 | Winning time: 1m 39.76s

(1)

Elusive Heights¹⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 10-2| J: George Rooke| T: R Fell & S Murray| OR: 67| D

6/1

On a long barren run (no win since July 2016) and finished last of seven at Southwell (1m) 16 days ago; that said, he drops into a Class 6 for the very first time so that gives him some hope; stablemate of Al Ozzdi.

Form: 35/993-7

(4)

Al Ozzdi⁸^{(ex 5)}

Age: 5| Weight: 10-0| J: Paula Muir| T: R Fell & S Murray| OR: 60| CD

5/1

Took his revenge on Blazing Dreams when holding off the reopposing Lukoutoldmakezebak over C&D last week; carries 5lb extra tonight; stablemate of Elusive Heights.

Form: 0260-61

(2)

Bawaader²⁴⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 9-12| J: Toby Eley| T: D Thompson| OR: 63

50/1

Left Ed Dunlop for £6,000 in September 2019; seeks a sharp upturn in fortunes on his first start for the Darlington handler David Thompson.

Form: 6550-

(8)

Channel Packet¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 9-12| J: Erika Parkinson⁽⁵⁾| T: M Appleby| OR: 63| D

15/2

Chelmsford City regular (sole AW win came there in November 2018); placed on both starts so far in 2020, including when beaten 3½L (third) by Brains a fortnight ago.

Form: 3308-33

(5)

Newmarket Warrior^p¹⁴

Age: 9| Weight: 9-12| J: Harry Russell| T: I Jardine| OR: 63| CD

16/1

Newcastle regular (three-time C&D winner) who ideally needs to be dropped in front on the line, or as near as possible; hasn't been at his best of late, but is sliding back down the weights as a result; others more convincing.

Form: 6739-40

(6)

Ballet Red²¹

Age: 4| Weight: 9-11| J: Mark Crehan| T: T J FitzGerald| OR: 62

6/1

Stayed on to break her duck at the 14th attempt in a 1m+ classified selling stakes at Wolverhampton three weeks ago; left the care of Harry Dunlop at the subsequent auction; needs a market check for new connections.

Form: 33626-1

(9)

Lukoutoldmakezebak^p⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 9-7| J: Aled Beech| T: D Thompson| OR: 58| CD

8/1

On a career high mark (58) but is clearly most effective at this track with three wins on his CV (7f-1m); 2lb well-in (weights rise imminent) after finishing second to Al Ozzdi (5lb worse off) over C&D last week.

Form: 3919-22

(11)

Amor Fati⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 9-6| J: Laura Pearson⁽⁵⁾| T: P D Evans| OR: 57| D

4/1

Enjoyed a productive 2019 (six wins), although had gone off the boil until showing signs of a revival at Wolverhampton (1m1½f) last week - finished just under 3L third to Pilot Wings.

Form: 8900-83

(10)

High Fort¹⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 9-4| J: Ben Sanderson| T: A C Whillans| OR: 55| CD

6/1

With Karen McLintock when keeping on strongly to see off a number of recent winners over C&D in December; below-par latest and has moved on since; can't be ruled out on his first start for Alistair Whillans.

Form: 9291-28

(7)

Somewhat Sisyphean⁵³

Age: 4| Weight: 8-10| J: Andrew Breslin| T: W Storey| OR: 47

12/1

Seven-race maiden; his best run to date came when third over 1m4f at Thirsk (soft) in August 2019; stablemate of Circuit.

Form: 000537-

(3)

Circuit²²

Age: 6| Weight: 8-8| J: Rhona Pindar| T: W Storey| OR: 45

33/1

11-race maiden; was in contention until the furlong pole when weakening into the mid-division behind Corked here (1m2f) three weeks ago; stablemate of Somewhat Sisyphean.

Form: 9/0976-7

Forecasts

Amor Fati (4/1), Al Ozzdi (5/1), Elusive Heights (6/1), Ballet Red (6/1), High Fort (6/1), Channel Packet (15/2), Lukoutoldmakezebak (8/1), Somewhat Sisyphean (12/1), Newmarket Warrior (16/1), Circuit (33/1), Bawaader (50/1)

Al Ozzdi and LUKOUTOLDMAKEZEBAK fought out the finish to a similar contest here last week with the Roger Fell-trained runner coming out on top by 1¼L. However, with a 5lb weights turnaround there's every chance that the impossibly named Newcastle regular can gain his revenge and record a fourth course success. Possible place contenders include Ballet Red and High Fort who are both making their first start for new connections - Tim Fitzgerald and Alistair Whillans respectively.