12:15 Uttoxeter

Thursday 16 July 2020

All12:1512:4513:1513:4514:1514:4515:1515:5016:25

Sky Sports Racing Virgin 535 Novices' Hurdle (GBB Race)

Off time: 12:17 | Winning time: 3m 44.60s

Captain Tom Cat¹⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: Sam Twiston-Davies| T: Dr R D P Newland

6/5

Placed in a point-to-point in 2019 and ran well when finishing 9½L second in a 2m novice hurdle at Southwell (good) on Rules debut at the start of this month. One for the shortlist in this contest.

Form: 3PF/7-2

El Borracho^h¹⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: Henry Brooke| T: O Greenall & J Guerriero

4/1

Four time Flat winner performed well when finishing fourth in a 2m novice hurdle at Southwell (good) on jumping debut last time. Interesting runner once on this occasion.

Form: 3

High Change²³⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: W T Kennedy| T: C Hills| D

5/1

Bumper winner on good ground at Ffos Las in June last year and ran well when third in a six runner maiden hurdle at Fakenham (2m2, good) subsequently. Worth a check in the market having disappointed at Kempton on his latest outing.

Form: 130-

Magnum¹⁴⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: S Mulqueen⁽³⁾| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell

16/1

Victorious on the Flat in Denmark in 2018 and finished a decent second on stable and hurdling debut in a soft ground maiden contest over an extended 1m7f at Musselburgh in February. Interesting to see how he performs on his return from a break.

Form: 2-

Precious Momento¹²²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: Alain Cawley| T: D M Loughnane

200/1

Well held in a couple of bumpers so far most recently when 90L sixth of seven in a 2m event at Hereford (soft) in March. Others make more appeal on hurdling debut.

Form: 7/6-

Rivers End⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-0| J: David Noonan| T: N J Hawke

100/1

Small field point-to-point winner on yielding-to-soft ground in May last year and has placed in that sphere subsequently. Struggled at Newton Abbot (good) when eighth on hurdles debut recently however and others hold more obvious claims.

Form: F/1235-8

Steinkraus¹⁸⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: B S Hughes| T: D McCain Jnr

40/1

Finished runner-up in a point-to-point at Taylorwstown (good) in April last year. Had wind surgery subsequently and finished a well beaten 51L sixth in a 2m1f bumper at Sedgefield (soft) on Rules debut in January.

Form: P2/6-

The Mayne Man¹⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: Thomas Dowson| T: P A Kirby

150/1

Placed third, beaten 22L in a soft-to-heavy ground bumper at Down Royal (2m1f) in December. Disappointed next time however and is probably best watched having struggled on hurdles and stable debut over this C&D recently.

Form: 530-9

Black Kraken¹⁶⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: R P McLernon| T: B Haslam

100/1

Failed to figure in four Flat starts to date including when 7L eighth in a classified event at Chelmsford over an extended 1m5f in February. Cheekpieces worn for the first time that day are absent on hurdling debut.

Form:

Hurricane Ali¹⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: Jamie Hamilton| T: J Mackie

25/1

Showed ability when fourth over an extended 1m at Wolverhampton in September last year but struggled on handicap debut over 1m4f at Doncaster (good-to-firm) last month. Others hold more obvious claims on jumps debut.

Form:

Seeusoon^p1¹⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: Harry Skelton| T: D Skelton

10/3

Making his hurdling debut when finishing 13L fourth in a 2m event at Southwell (good) at the start of this month. Finished behind Captain Tom Cat that day and is fitted with cheekpieces for the first time in this contest.

Form: 4

Non-Runners

Flying Away³⁰⁴

Weight: 11-0| Age: 6

T: Mrs S Gardner J: Sean Houlihan

Forecasts

Captain Tom Cat (6/5), Seeusoon (10/3), El Borracho (4/1), High Change (5/1), Magnum (16/1), Hurricane Ali (25/1), Steinkraus (40/1), Black Kraken (100/1), Rivers End (100/1), The Mayne Man (150/1), Precious Momento (200/1), Flying Away (300/1)

CAPTAIN TOM CAT performed well when placed on hurdling debut at Southwell recently and he can go one better than when finishing runner-up that day by taking this novices' hurdle event. The selection represents a useful stable and he can get the better of El Borracho who was placed on the same card when making his jumps debut while third place can go to Seeusoon who finished behind the selection when the pair met in the aforementioned Southwell event.