16:30 Newcastle

Thursday 6 February 2020

All16:3017:0017:3018:0018:3019:0019:3020:00

Betway Handicap

Off time: 16:33 | Winning time: 2m 14.78s

(9)

Howzer Black^h1³²

Age: 4| Weight: 9-7| J: Callum Rodriguez| T: K Dalgleish| OR: 75

10/1

Eased in grade (from Class 4) and upped-in-trip after struggling to put his best foot forward on the Fibresand at Southwell (7f) last month; draws a stamina influence from the side of his dam (a Tiger Hill mare); newly hooded.

Form: 42586-5

(4)

Palavecino^h1⁵⁰³

Age: 4| Weight: 9-7| J: L Morris| T: B J Meehan| OR: 75

16/1

Absent since his juvenile days (first start since September 2018); made most when turning over a long odds-on favourite on debut at Ffos Las (7½f, good to soft); first experience of racing on an artificial surface; newly hooded.

Form: 14/

(12)

Bin Makfi³²

Age: 5| Weight: 9-6| J: S H James| T: K A Ryan| OR: 74

33/1

Showed promise on debut at Carlisle (1m, good to firm) in June 2018; was probably in need of the run when returning from a 521-day absence at Southwell four weeks ago; upped-in-trip for handicap debut.

Form: 25/4

(7)

Lucky's Dream²⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 9-6| J: P J McDonald| T: Ian Williams| OR: 74| D

7/4

Pleasing strike-rate (5-21, including 3-7 on the AW); potentially value for more than the winning margin when beating Motawaafeq by 1¼L at Chelmsford (1m2f) latest; a 5lb rise looks fair - now sits on a career-high mark; player.

Form: 11344-1

(3)

Clem A³¹

Age: 4| Weight: 9-4| J: J Mitchell| T: A Bailey| OR: 72

10/3

Seeks the hat-trick following back-to-back wins on Tapeta at Wolverhampton (1m1½f); 3lb higher than when beating Sir Mark Prescott's The Game Is On by ¾L latest; soon to be retiring trainer saddled a winner at Wolverhampton on Monday.

Form: 14951-1

(6)

Paddyplex²¹

Age: 7| Weight: 9-4| J: J Fanning| T: T Davidson| OR: 72| BF| CD

13/2

Class 4 C&D winner for Keith Dalgleish (Nov 2017); now 0-2 for Tristan Davidson after an unproductive stint for Karen McLintock; didn't see out the 1m4½f trip when a beaten 4-1 favourite here latest; remains feasibly handicapped.

Form: 0/5769-7

(1)

Suaimhneach¹¹⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 9-3| J: Shane Gray| T: Phillip Makin| OR: 71

80/1

With Jim Bolger when keeping on strongly to make a winning handicap debut (7f apprentices') at Leopardstown in July 2019; less proficient thereafter (0-5) and has since moved on at the Newmarket Autumn Sale (for 4,000gns); AW/stable debut.

Form: 170087-

(2)

Hector's Here^p¹⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 9-2| J: P Hanagan| T: I Furtado| OR: 70

14/1

Kept fair form on turf at a lowly level (Cl 6) last season, most notably when doing battle with Anna Bunina at Beverley (1m1½f, good); was off for six-months until reappearing at Wolverhampton (1m1½f) 17 days ago; handicap mark high enough?

Form: 42412-0

(10)

Bobba Tee⁵⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 9-0| J: Cam Hardie| T: L A Mullaney| OR: 68

50/1

Five-race maiden who has contested a couple of bumpers; his best run on the Flat came when a plugging on third to the John Gosden-trained Yuri Gagarin here (1m) in December; handicap debut.

Form: 536-

(11)

The Game Of Life²⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 8-13| J: Phil Dennis| T: M Herrington| OR: 67

50/1

Dual Dundalk Polytrack winner (1m) for Joseph O'Brien; has fallen 13lb in the weights since joining this trainer (0-4) for 11,000gns; recent form is wholly uninspiring; look elsewhere.

Form: 63008-7

(5)

Corked²⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 8-12| J: Jason Hart| T: A C Whillans| OR: 66| CD

17/2

Progressive over C&D (three wins) since September 2019; produced late and wide when beating Sweet Marmalade by 1½L four weeks ago; since raised a further 5lb; tackles a Class 5 handicap seeking the hat-trick.

Form: 31341-1

(8)

Curfewed^p²⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 8-9| J: T Eaves| T: Miss Tracy Waggott| OR: 63| C

12/1

Broke his maiden tag at the 19th attempt when clinging on determinedly from stablemates Proceeding (a winner since) and Kind Review over 1m here three weeks ago; a mere 2lb higher and does stay this 1m2f trip.

Form: 4834-31

Forecasts

Lucky's Dream (7/4), Clem A (10/3), Paddyplex (13/2), Corked (17/2), Howzer Black (10/1), Curfewed (12/1), Hector's Here (14/1), Palavecino (16/1), Bin Makfi (33/1), Bobba Tee (50/1), The Game Of Life (50/1), Suaimhneach (80/1)

A number of in-form rivals do battle, and that is where the focus should lie in seeking the winner. Both Corked (on a hat-trick) and Curfewed (form franked) tackle stronger opposition (Class 5) seeking to continue to progress, while Clem A moves away from Wolverhampton in his hat-trick mission for the soon to be retiring trainer Alan Bailey. However, we'll opt to row-in with the Ian Williams-trained Chelmsford regular LUCKY'S DREAM on the strength of a solid overall career strike-rate (5-21) and with the suspicion that he had plenty in the locker when scoring at the Essex venue 26 days ago. Of the remainder, Palvecino and Paddyplex aren't totally discounted.