15:40 Taunton

Tuesday 22 February 2022

All13:2013:5514:3015:0515:4016:1516:50

Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide Handicap Hurdle (GBB Race)

Off time: 15:40 | Winning time: 4m 18.5s

Langer Dan³⁴⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Lorcan Williams| T: D Skelton| OR: 140| D

17/2

Found just one too good in the Martin Pipe at last season's Cheltenham Festival, having landed the Imperial Cup in good style at Sandown 6 days earlier. Entitled to need this following 11 months off.

Form: 6/95412-

Ajero^t¹⁰⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 11-6| J: David Bass| T: K Bailey & M Nicholls| OR: 134| D

11/4

Progressive novice last term, winning 4 on the bounce prior to finding Grade 1 company too much at Aintree. Not at his best in a couple of appearances so far this season, but not one to write off.

Form: 1117-P4

Zambezi Fix⁴⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 11-1| J: Ben Jones| T: B J Llewellyn| OR: 129| D

7/1

Fairly useful ex-Irish hurdler who has hit the crossbar in Sandown handicaps on his last 2 starts in this sphere. No issues with regard to trip/ground, but likely to find a couple of these too strong.

Form: 22-F252

Timberman⁹²

Age: 7| Weight: 10-11| J: P J Brennan| T: F O'Brien| OR: 125| D

3/1

Fine third in a Cheltenham handicap on return in October and strong at the finish when scoring at Kempton (2m, good) a month later. 6 lb rise tolerable and claims providing the ground doesn't ease.

Form: 16-1431

Birds Of Prey^t⁴³

Age: 8| Weight: 10-5| J: H Cobden| T: P F Nicholls| OR: 119| C| D

14/1

Hasn't shown much spark in handicaps at Exeter and this course since returning from a lengthy absence in December, and he's hard to warm to at present.

Form: 6731/87

Fontana Ellissi^h²¹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-2| J: Jack Tudor⁽³⁾| T: S Drinkwater| OR: 116| D

9/4

Dual novice winner for Nigel Twiston-Davies last year and opened account for new connections at Ffos Las (15.8f, soft) 3 weeks ago. Remains on a good mark following a 5 lb rise and obvious claims.

Form: 120551

Non-Runners

Restandbethankful¹⁶

Weight: 11-0| Age: 6

T: O Murphy J: Thomas Bellamy

Mack The Man¹

Weight: 10-13| Age: 8

T: Evan Williams J: Adam Wedge

Forecasts

Fontana Ellissi (9/4), Ajero (11/4), Timberman (3/1), Restandbethankful (6/1), Zambezi Fix (7/1), Langer Dan (17/2), Birds Of Prey (14/1), Mack The Man (16/1)

This is stronger than the Ffos Las handicap FONTANA ELLISSI landed last time, but he remains on an attractive mark and should be capable of holding his own at this higher level. With Langer Dan's connections presumably using this race as a stepping-stone ahead of bigger targets, Ajero, who has edged back to his last winning mark, and Timberman may emerge as the main dangers.