Leicestershire And Derbyshire Yeomanry Handicap Chase

Off time: 15:15 | Winning time: 4m 9.64s

Pride Of Lecale¹⁰

Age: 11| Weight: 12-2| J: C Brace| T: F O'Brien| OR: 112| D

9/4

Veteran who defied market weakness to open chase account in a first-time hood at Ffos Las in January. Second in a 3-runner affair over this C&D last time and should make his presence felt.

Form: PP-P142

Billingsley³⁸

Age: 10| Weight: 12-1| J: Jay Tidball⁽¹⁰⁾| T: A Ralph| OR: 111| D

13/8

Returned to form in no uncertain terms when accounting for 5 rivals at Ffos Las (2m) last month. Remains well handicapped despite going up 8 lb and he'll prove hard to beat if in a similar mood here.

Form: PP-0651

First Class Return⁴⁵

Age: 9| Weight: 11-12| J: David England| T: O Murphy| OR: 108

12/1

Clear-cut winner of back-to-back 24.3f handicap chases at Southwell last spring, but efforts so far this season leave much to be desired.

Form: 14-RP9U

Boagrius^p1,t⁶³

Age: 10| Weight: 11-10| J: J J Burke| T: T R George| OR: 106| CD

9/2

Winless since scoring over C&D 3 years ago and well held in 2 starts since returning from a break in December. However, he'll be a threat off this mark if responding well to first-time cheekpieces.

Form: 8-45265

Shaw's Cross³⁵

Age: 10| Weight: 10-3| J: W T Kennedy| T: P Henderson| OR: 85| D

11/2

Best effort for a while when chasing home Pride of Lecale on belated chase debut at Ffos Las in January, but subsequent Chepstow display was poor.

Form: 86382P

Forecasts

Billingsley (13/8), Pride Of Lecale (9/4), Boagrius (9/2), Shaw's Cross (11/2), First Class Return (12/1)

BILLINGSLEY appeared to have lost his way prior to bouncing back with a decisive victory in a more competitive race than this at Ffos Las. If able to reproduce form akin to that, he'll take plenty of stopping off this 8 lb higher mark, which is still some 18 lb below that off which he beat Boagrius at Newbury in February 2020. Boagrius is preferred to Pride of Lecale for forecast purposes.