17:30 Newcastle

Saturday 14 March 2020

All14:0014:3515:1015:4516:2016:5517:30

BetUK.com Home Of Hit The Target Treble Standard Open NH Flat Race

Off time: 17:31 | Winning time: 4m 5.70s

Tupelo Mississippi²²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-9| J: Danny Cook| T: B Ellison| D

4/1

Yeats gelding; changed hands for £65,000 (May 2019); very well-backed when an emphatic 13L winner of a Tapeta bumper here three weeks ago; boasts solid credentials if able to translate such form to turf.

Form: 2-41

Getabay³⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: Mr J J Codd| T: G Elliott| BF

1/1

Runner-up in two of his three starts in bumpers (Limerick & Bangor), beaten by the progressive Faivoir (Dan Skelton) on the latter occasion; a rare runner at this track for the all conquering Elliott & Codd partnership; merits immense respect.

Form: 622

Murvagh Beach

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: R D Day| T: N G Richards

9/2

Doyen gelding from an unraced dam who was a half-sister to the Gold Cup winner Kicking King; is closely related the bumper winner Magic Vixen; trainer has a strong record in bumpers at Newcastle (carries the David & Nicky Robinson silks).

Form:

Onward Route²⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: B S Hughes| T: Ruth Jefferson

5/1

Yeats gelding (€17,000 foal); closely related to the 2m6f hurdle winner Policy Breach; proved no match for the appropriately named winner (Easy As That) on debut at Musselburgh last month; can progress with experience banked.

Form: 2

Snitch

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: Ross Chapman| T: Miss T Jackson

50/1

Witness Box gelding; €6,500 yearling; dam (Kind Oscar) was a point-to-point/2m1f chase/2m4f hurdle winner; others make more appeal in a very competitive looking bumper.

Form:

Style Nelson⁷¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: Craig Nichol| T: R Dobbin

50/1

Mount Nelson gelding (cost €65,000 as a 3yo); absent since finishing an outpaced sixth of ten to a stablemate of Murvagh Beach (Elios D'Or) at Musselburgh early in the New Year.

Form: 66

Lady Villanelle⁴⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 10-9| J: Callum Whillans| T: D W Whillans

20/1

Shantou mare (cost €4,100 as a 3yo) from a bumper winning dam (Definite Deploy); runner-up to the Sandy Thomson-trained Manorbank on debut at Kelso (2m½f, soft) in January; that was a most pleasing start.

Form: 2

Freddie's Frontier

Age: 4| Weight: 10-8| J: G Lee| T: Micky Hammond

18/1

Sans Frontieres gelding; €6,200 yearling, €8,000 3yo; 11th foal; closely related to the 2m3f/2m4f hurdle winner Smart Boy; trainer/jockey combination linked up with fellow debutant Crypto (a 16L winner here last March).

Form:

Forecasts

Getabay (1/1), Tupelo Mississippi (4/1), Murvagh Beach (9/2), Onward Route (5/1), Freddie's Frontier (18/1), Lady Villanelle (20/1), Style Nelson (50/1), Snitch (50/1)

A fascinating bumper with a number of top trainers represented, so surely a race worth monitoring closely for the future (should yield a plethora of winners). Tupelo Mississippi looked to be a fine prospect when a decisive winner on the Tapeta here three weeks ago, but under an incurred penalty could be forced to play second fiddle to the Gordon Elliott-trained GETABAY. This Getaway gelding had the distinct misfortune to bump into a well above average rival (Faivoir) at Bangor on his most recent start.