bet365 Scottish Supreme Novices' Hurdle

Off time: 14:15 | Winning time: 3m 51.40s

Construct^t¹²¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-6| J: B S Hughes| T: J C McConnell| OR: 132

16/1

Unbeaten in two starts over hurdles courtesy of summer success at Downpatrick (2m3f, good) and Sligo (2m1f, good to yielding); the hood is discarded on his first appearance for 121 days; can he land the hat-trick in stronger company?

Form: 11

Fred³⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-6| J: D A Jacob| T: N J Henderson| OR: 138| D

5/4

French import (ex S.Dehez); decisive winner at Kempton (2m, soft) on Boxing Day - accounting for the Paul Nicholls-trained Ecco and better fancied stablemate Vegas Blue; strong chance assuming that the drying conditions don't hinder.

Form: 222-331

Wild Max⁵²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-6| J: Harry Cobden| T: P F Nicholls| OR: 133| D

2/1

German import (ex A.Wohler); two from two over hurdles at Taunton (2m½f) for Paul Nicholls and is open to further improvement; that said; this race does represent a much sterner test of his Supreme Novices' credentials.

Form: 11

Jabbaar²¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-3| J: C O'Farrell| T: I Jardine| OR: 127

14/1

Pulled hard, yet still ran out a comfortable winner on hurdles debut at Sedgefield (2m1f, soft) on Boxing Day; was beaten by the progressive Cheddleton at Kelso (2m, heavy) three weeks ago.

Form: 12

Malystic²⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 11-3| J: Henry Brooke| T: P D Niven| OR: 132| CD

11/2

Beat a subsequent winner (Order Of Thistle) when hacking up in a C&D maiden (good to soft) in early December; no disgrace whatsoever in finishing second best to Thursday's emphatic Ffos Las winner Pileon at Catterick since.

Form: 210-U12

County Fair³¹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: Adrian Heskin| T: J S Goldie

150/1

71-rated on the Flat (1-15); started 16-1 for hurdles debut at Ayr (2m4½f, soft); raced keenly and not overly fluent at his hurdles (eventually pulled-up after losing touch from halfway); is surely well out of his depth against these opponents.

Form: P

Non-Runners

Sebastopol¹

Weight: 11-6| Age: 6

T: T Lacey J: J J Burke

Forecasts

Fred (5/4), Wild Max (2/1), Sebastopol (4/1), Malystic (11/2), Jabbaar (14/1), Construct (16/1), County Fair (150/1)

Tom Lacey's Sebastopol is among a number of horses doubly declared at Musselburgh this weekend (entered in the 2.05pm on Saturday) which means that the full picture isn't available at the time of writing. Construct returns to the track seeking the hat-trick, while it would be foolish to completely dismiss the chances of Jabbaar and Malystic. However, the pair to concentrate upon are the unbeaten Wild Max (Paul Nicholls) and the fast-improving FRED (Nicky Henderson). The selection boasts the strongest form in the book courtesy of a Boxing Day win at Kempton, and therefore holds a strong chance on the assumption that drying conditions don't hinder.