13:22 Uttoxeter

Saturday 8 February 2020

All12:4813:2213:5814:3215:0715:4216:17

Best Odds Guaranteed At MansionBet Maiden Hurdle (Div 1)

Off time: 13:23 | Winning time: 4m 21.10s

Alfsboy²⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Jordan Nailor⁽⁵⁾| T: N & W Twiston-Davies

33/1

Not devoid of ability on his debut in a Worcester bumper in October, but has shown very little in three hurdles since then. Can only watch at present.

Form: 009P

Baboin²⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: Charlie Price⁽⁵⁾| T: Tim Vaughan| OR: 119

5/1

Good ground Killarney bumper winner last spring. Made a bit of improvement on that over hurdles, also for Joseph O'Brien, but well held on debut for this trainer after a break at Lingfield last month. If better for that, he would have claims.

Form: 7-12633

Click And Collect²³

Age: 8| Weight: 11-4| J: Ross Chapman| T: J Candlish| OR: 112

4/1

Pulled up on debut last spring, when with Clare Ellam. Then had wind surgery and switched to this trainer, for whom he showed improvement from his run here in December to his latest effort at Market Rasen (2m2½f, soft) last month. Interesting.

Form: P-45

Clondaw Promise⁵⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: W T Kennedy| T: J & A O'Neill

3/1

Showed ability on his debut at Kempton (2m5f, good) in November, but took a backward step when tailed off at Warwick (2m5f, heavy) since. Drop in trip worth a try. Can't rule him out, but has it to prove on heavy ground.

Form: 3F-4P

Flintrock²⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Page Fuller⁽³⁾| T: N B King

6/1

Firm ground Bath Flat win for Andrew Balding remains his only one to date. 0-3 over hurdles, and while he has been making some steady improvements, he will need a significant step up to win this.

Form: P87

Initiative⁸⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: R T Dunne| T: R J Price| OR: 113

12/1

6f Flat winner in 2017. Started in claimers and sellers over hurdles, but best effort so far came here over C&D when last seen in a maiden in November. That was a good run in the context of this race and any improvement would see him go close.

Form: 742

Rathnure Ranger^h⁴²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: Benjamin Poste| T: Katy Price

50/1

Maiden after four attempts in Irish points, one bumper and two hurdles runs in December. Although the latest was an improvement, he looks well short of the mark here.

Form: 4R-F570

Akilaya¹⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 10-11| J: Henry Brooke| T: O Greenall & J Guerriero

100/1

Well held in a bumper on debut at Sedgefield on Boxing Day, and was 125-1 when similar occurred here on her recent hurdles debut. Can only watch until we see more from her.

Form: 70

Backoftheenvelope⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 10-11| J: William Marshall⁽⁷⁾| T: D Skelton

25/1

40-1 and held on debut at Warwick (2m5f, soft) last month. Was then a 150-1 chance at Wetherby last Saturday, when dropped to this trip but beaten a long way. Hard to fancy.

Form: 99

Ms Intrigue⁵¹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-11| J: Edward Austin⁽⁷⁾| T: J G M O'Shea

150/1

€8,000 yearling who was sent off at 50-1 on debut in a mares' bumper at Hereford (2m, heavy) in December, and finished a distant last. Can only take a watching brief on her hurdles debut.

Form: 0

Vicky Cristina⁷⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 10-11| J: Lewis Stones⁽⁷⁾| T: J R Holt

150/1

0-22 in the other code, where she is officially rated just 40. No jumps success to get excited about from her pedigree and looks impossible to make a case for on her hurdles debut.

Form:

Land Of Winter⁷⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 10-8| J: Danny Cook| T: Rae Guest| BF

11/4

1m6f Fibresand winner with a BHA rating of 67 in the other code, where he handles soft ground and stays 2m1f. Rare hurdles runner for a trainer who has had a winner on the AW this week. Interesting.

Form:

Forecasts

Land Of Winter (11/4), Clondaw Promise (3/1), Click And Collect (4/1), Baboin (5/1), Flintrock (6/1), Initiative (12/1), Backoftheenvelope (25/1), Alfsboy (33/1), Rathnure Ranger (50/1), Akilaya (100/1), Vicky Cristina (150/1), Ms Intrigue (150/1)

A moderate maiden hurdle where few are easy to make strong cases for. If Clondaw Promise can handle heavy ground he could run a big race, while Baboin and Initiative should both be competitive. Land Of Winter is an interesting recruit from the Flat. A win for him would not be the biggest of surprises, but the suggestion is CLICK AND COLLECT, who took a step in the right direction last time and is taken to break his duck.