15:15 Down Royal

Thursday 17 March 2022

All13:5514:3515:1515:5516:3517:1517:50

Powered By Bluegrass Novice Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 15:16 | Winning time: 5m 20.00s

O'Toole³³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Mr B G Crawford⁽⁷⁾| T: S R B Crawford| OR: 123| C

7/4

Lightly-raced course maiden winner. 7/2, fourth of 7 in novice hurdle at Naas (19f, soft) 33 days ago. Makes handicap hurdle debut. Open to further progress.

Form: 12-14

Paddys Planet⁴⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 11-3| J: J B Foley⁽⁵⁾| T: R O'Sullivan| OR: 114| D

6/1

2 wins from 4 runs this season. Latest win in hurdle at Naas in January. Bit below form tenth of 16 in handicap hurdle (9/2) at Fairyhouse (23.7f, good to soft) 47 days ago.

Form: 91-5110

Fire Squadron^p¹²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-2| J: Niall Moore⁽⁷⁾| T: G Elliott| OR: 113

50/1

14/1 and cheekpieces on for 1st time, creditable seventh of 13 in handicap hurdle at Navan (20f, soft) 12 days ago, well positioned.

Form: 725-787

Cute Cherry^p¹¹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-1| J: Sam Ewing| T: G Elliott| OR: 112| D

20/1

12/1, career best when winning 13-runner handicap hurdle at Leopardstown (20f, good to soft) 11 days ago. Ought to remain competitive after 6 lb rise.

Form: 661P41

Womalko⁷⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: Phillip Enright| T: R Tyner| OR: 109| D

6/1

Promising sort. 5/4, career best when winning 12-runner handicap hurdle at Limerick (19f, heavy) 78 days ago, bit in hand. Yard in good form. Likely to continue in form.

Form: 00-0621

Justicialism¹⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 10-11| J: Mike O'Connor⁽⁵⁾| T: B R Hamilton| OR: 120

11/1

Lightly-raced winner over hurdles. 11/2, career best when winning 8-runner juvenile hurdle at Naas (15.5f, soft) 18 days ago. Up in trip.

Form: 49011

Kingston Retreat⁶⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 10-10| J: Mark McDonagh⁽⁷⁾| T: S O O'Brien| OR: 107

11/2

First run since leaving James M. Barcoe when unseated rider in handicap hurdle (5/1) at Punchestown (20.9f, heavy) 60 days ago.

Form: 14430U

Wild Hunt¹⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 10-9| J: D G Hogan| T: D Hogan| OR: 106

8/1

Career best when winning 15-runner handicap hurdle (11/2) at Clonmel (24f, heavy) 14 days ago. Up 10 lb but he did that readily and should go well again.

Form: 808021

Sam Lorenzo⁵¹

Age: 7| Weight: 10-4| J: L P Dempsey| T: W J Bryson| OR: 101

50/1

Respectable sixth of 10 in minor event hurdle at this course (16.7f, good to soft, 80/1) 51 days ago. Something to find on form.

Form: 63-4096

Nathaniel's Dream^h,t²³

Age: 7| Weight: 10-1| J: P J Carberry| T: A J Martin| OR: 98| BF

9/1

4/1 and hooded for 1st time, creditable second of 18 in handicap hurdle at Navan (21f, heavy) 23 days ago, just failing. Can make presence felt.

Form: 0-U8642

Forecasts

O'Toole (7/4), Kingston Retreat (11/2), Womalko (6/1), Paddys Planet (6/1), Wild Hunt (8/1), Nathaniel's Dream (9/1), Justicialism (11/1), Cute Cherry (20/1), Fire Squadron (50/1), Sam Lorenzo (50/1)

This looks a warm little race. WOMALKO appeals as one to go on improving on the back of his Limerick win and can defy a rise but there are a few possible threats, headed by ready Clonmel scorer Wild Hunt and Stuart Crawford's unexposed top weight O'Toole.