16:20 Southwell

Thursday 5 March 2020

All14:0014:3515:1015:4516:2016:50

Heed Your Hunch At Betway Handicap

Off time: 16:20 | Winning time: 59.51s

(2)

Zylan⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 9-9| J: B A Curtis| T: R Fell & S Murray| OR: 87| CD

2/1

Has raced here almost exclusively all winter, always doing his best and hasn't been out of the first four in his last six starts; 2lb lower than his second here last week and although this trip probably short of his best, can't be ruled out.

Form: 212342

(7)

Airshow^b1⁴²

Age: 5| Weight: 9-7| J: Alistair Rawlinson| T: M Appleby| OR: 85| CD

9/1

Sprang a 20-1 shock on New Years Day here but hasn't beaten a horse home in two starts since then, so that win starting to look something of an outlier; handicapper gives him a chance but others make more appeal; blinkers tried today.

Form: 046-145

(6)

Harry Hurricane^p¹⁰³

Age: 8| Weight: 9-6| J: George Rooke⁽⁵⁾| T: George Baker| OR: 84| D

11/1

Has plenty of speed and is hard to catch on a going day, ran to form when fourth here last October but not seen out since November anyway, and has no great record fresh. Others make a little more appeal.

Form: 601149-

(4)

Aleef^t¹⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 9-3| J: Rob Hornby| T: R M Beckett| OR: 81| D

11/1

Had just two starts for this yard, and didn't fare badly when third to the useful Kafeetha here in January; that was over 6f however, and given he was staying on late, this drop back to 5f may not be ideal; hard to discount all the same.

Form: 8417-36

(5)

Doc Sportello^p¹⁰

Age: 8| Weight: 9-1| J: Tom Marquand| T: A W Carroll| OR: 79| D

15/8

Ran a cracker in refitted cheekpieces when beaten a neck by the improving National Anthem over C&D last time out, possibly not helped by being forced to race up unflavoured far rail late; same mark here and has a big chance of going one better.

Form: 2150-32

(1)

Samovar^b¹⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 8-13| J: L Morris| T: S Dixon| OR: 77| CD

6/1

Course regular that has five wins to his name and ran as well as he has done for a while when second to Astro Jakk over C&D last time; not always the smartest away from the gate but has every chance if away on terms, and may prove the one to catch.

Form: 263342

Non-Runners

(3)

Broken Spear¹²⁸

Weight: 9-7| Age: 4

T: T Coyle & K Wood J: Harry Russell

Forecasts

Doc Sportello (15/8), Zylan (2/1), Samovar (6/1), Airshow (9/1), Broken Spear (10/1), Aleef (11/1), Harry Hurricane (11/1)

There's the possibility of a real burn-up here, with at least three of these wanting the lead, and it might fall the way of ZYLAN late in the day. He's probably not got a lot in hand off this mark but that goes for most of these, and he did clock a really good speed figure when second over C&D back in January. Doc Sportello might prove the danger after his close second to an improver last time out, and Samovar can hang on for third.