Temptations Bishop Auckland Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 14:10 | Winning time: 4m 30.90s

Oxwich Bay^p¹¹

Age: 8| Weight: 12-1| J: Adam Wedge| T: Evan Williams| OR: 102| BF| CD

3/1

Course winner (bumper); twice placed over fences; reverts to the smaller obstacles dropped-in-trip and grade compared with his fourth-placed finish at Chepstow (2m3½f, heavy) in January; trainer 13-37 (35%) at Sedgefield since April 2015; chance.

Form: 6U2423

Wild Sam^b,t³⁵

Age: 10| Weight: 11-12| J: Dale Irving⁽³⁾| T: M A Barnes| OR: 99

10/1

Twice successful over hurdles for Iain Jardine in 2019, including over 2m5f (soft) at Kelso; joined this trainer for £5,500 in December; fair fifth to Ulterior Motives here (2m5f, soft) five weeks ago; drops in trip.

Form: F14165

Roxyfet¹⁰

Age: 10| Weight: 11-7| J: Emma Smith-Chaston⁽⁷⁾| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 94| CD

9/4

Adores Sedgefield (eight course wins); was expertly produced on the run to the final fence to score here (2m½f, heavy) ten days ago; ought to remain competitive despite the switch back to hurdles.

Form: 9221P1

Garde Forestier^p1,t⁴⁹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-7| J: Henry Brooke| T: R Menzies| OR: 94

7/2

Wincanton winner for Charles Whitaker (Nov 2017); struggled initially over fences for Rebecca Menzies (0-3); marginally better since reverting to hurdles; eased 4lb since finishing fifth at Kelso (2m, heavy) seven weeks ago; cheekpieces go on.

Form: P8CP7-5

Dequall¹³

Age: 4| Weight: 11-2| J: Sam Coltherd⁽³⁾| T: W Coltherd| OR: 97| D

16/1

Had shown fairly moderate form until taking a small step forward at Carlisle (2m1f, soft) when the beneficiary of the misfortune suffered by Bingo D'Olivate (weighed in 5lb light); lightly raced and is open to some improvement.

Form: 4851

Snowed In^p⁵²

Age: 11| Weight: 11-1| J: Sean Quinlan| T: F P Murtagh| OR: 88| D

9/1

Veteran of 101 races; gained reward for some reasonably consistent effort when making all to score at his beloved Catterick (1m7½f, soft) early in the New Year; sits 4lb higher today.

Form: 622951

Amlovi²⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 11-0| J: Benjamin Poste| T: A Wintle| OR: 87

11/1

A mare who clearly appreciates testing underfoot conditions; broke her duck over hurdles with a comfortable 9½L win at Plumpton (2m, heavy) three weeks ago; more on her plate from a 9lb higher mark but should be there or thereabouts.

Form: 5P0271

Forecasts

Roxyfet (9/4), Oxwich Bay (3/1), Garde Forestier (7/2), Snowed In (9/1), Wild Sam (10/1), Amlovi (11/1), Dequall (16/1)

Roxyfet adores Sedgefield and has struck up a decent rapport with the promising 7lb claimer Emma Smith-Chaston. Micky Hammond has placed his charge extremely well of late seeking to capitalise upon varying handicap marks (hurdles and fences). Meanwhile, the lowly-weighted mare Amlovi clearly relishes testing underfoot conditions and should have a positive role to play despite a 9lb rise in the weights for her recent Plumpton success. However, at the other end of the spectrum there's scope to anticipate an improved performance from the dropped-in-trip and eased-in-grade OXWICH BAY. His trainer Evan Williams boasts an exceptional 35% strike-rate here since April 2015.