14:30 Haydock

Friday 30 December 2022

All12:3013:0013:3014:0014:3015:0015:30

Betfred Supports Jack Berry House Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 14:30 | Winning time: 4m 54.10s

Jungle Jack³⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 12-0| J: B S Hughes| T: D McCain Jnr| OR: 134| CD

15/8

Winner of 4 of his 5 starts under Rules, picking up where he left off after a summer break to score in 4-runner C&D event 30 days ago. Straightforward sort should be competitive again despite 9 lb rise.

Form: 1/1112-1

Esprit Du Large³⁴²

Age: 8| Weight: 11-13| J: Adam Wedge| T: Evan Williams| OR: 133| D

25/1

Second at Exeter in January but was pulled up on his other 2 outings last term and with an overall chequered record, others are preferred on his return from 11-month absence.

Form: 3FP/P2P-

Aramax²⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 11-11| J: Jonjo O'Neill Jr.| T: B Haslam| OR: 131

40/1

Became increasingly hard to predict for Gordon Elliott and hasn't beaten a rival in a pair of starts for Ben Haslam this term.

Form: P-96P87

Protek Des Flos⁷⁰⁶

Age: 10| Weight: 11-9| J: R P McLernon| T: B Haslam| OR: 129| C

40/1

Off the track for almost 2 years since winning a 2m handicap chase here in January 2021. Best watched reverted to hurdling after such a long absence.

Form: 3145F1/

Stainsby Girl⁴¹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-9| J: Mr Kit Alexander⁽⁵⁾| T: N W Alexander| OR: 129| CD

2/1

Won back-to-back handicaps at Kelso last season for Donald Whillans and completed the hat-trick with a career best effort over C&D on his stable debut 41 days ago. Nudged up another 5 lb but likeable sort can give another good show.

Form: 4/4211-1

Romeo Brown²⁷

Age: 8| Weight: 11-8| J: Thomas Willmott⁽³⁾| T: J Parkinson & S Smith| OR: 128| C

8/1

Proved better than ever to spring a 50/1 surprise in 13-runner handicap hurdle at Aintree (20f, good to soft, 50/1) 27 days ago, rallying gamely to regain advantage after last. Different test here racing over sharper trip from career-high mark.

Form: 13-1361

Fine Casting²¹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-3| J: K Brogan| T: B Pauling| OR: 123| BF

3/1

Beaten at odds of 8/15 when third of 5 in handicap hurdle at Doncaster (19.4f, good) 21 days ago but that was still a creditable enough effort on the form book and his previous second in a big-field Cheltenham handicap means he remains of interest.

Form: 2114-23

Doctor Dex⁶³⁶

Age: 9| Weight: 11-0| J: Charlie Hammond| T: N Kent| OR: 120| D

50/1

Not seen since winning 11-runner minor event hurdle at Nancy (18.9f, soft) 19 months ago. First run for yard after leaving Tom George. Market should prove valuable guide.

Form: 12PPP5/

Batman For Ever³³

Age: 5| Weight: 10-11| J: Nathan Moscrop| T: R Menzies| OR: 117| D

33/1

Fairly useful winning hurdler/chaser at up to 2½m in France in 2021 but has offered little in a couple of starts for current connections here.

Form: 1112-8P

Non-Runners

Holmes St Georges⁵⁸

Weight: 10-13| Age: 5

T: S R B Crawford J: D A Jacob

Forecasts

Jungle Jack (15/8), Stainsby Girl (2/1), Fine Casting (3/1), Holmes St Georges (10/3), Romeo Brown (8/1), Esprit Du Large (25/1), Batman For Ever (33/1), Aramax (40/1), Protek Des Flos (40/1), Doctor Dex (50/1)

The admirable STAINSBY GIRL is fancied to take her record for Nick Alexander to 2-2 and follow up last month's C&D success. Fine Casting remains of interest despite being beaten at short odds last time, whilst Jungle Jack has a fine strike rate and should go well again.