12:47 Punchestown

Saturday 31 December 2022

All12:1512:4713:2213:5714:3215:0715:42

SP Or Better Guaranteed With Tote Handicap Chase

Off time: 12:49 | Winning time: 6m 34.5s

Spades Are Trumps²⁷

Age: 9| Weight: 12-0| J: Keith Donoghue| T: G P Cromwell| OR: 125| C

20/1

Respectable seventh of 12 in handicap chase at Fairyhouse (29f, heavy, 33/1) 27 days ago. Down in trip. Not taken lightly.

Form: P51-0P7

Brampton Belle³²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Rachael Blackmore| T: H De Bromhead| OR: 123

11/1

18/1, creditable fifth of 9 in novice chase at this course (19.7f, good to soft) 32 days ago. Trainer going well. Makes handicap chase debut. May well do better.

Form: 1515-35

History Of Fashion⁴¹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-12| J: C G O'Dwyer⁽⁷⁾| T: P A Fahy| OR: 123

33/1

33/1, ninth of 14 in handicap chase at this course (22.6f, good to soft) 41 days ago. Has work to do.

Form: U3PP-P9

Wa Wa^b1,t¹³

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: B J Cooper| T: D A McLoughlin| OR: 123| D

20/1

20/1, below form seventh of 13 in handicap chase at Thurles (17.8f, good to soft) 13 days ago. Significantly back up in trip. Blinkers on 1st time.

Form: 5-P2067

John Adams⁴¹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-10| J: M J M O'Sullivan⁽⁵⁾| T: P Maher| OR: 121| CD

10/1

C&D winner. First run since leaving Colin Bowe when creditable fourth of 17 in minor event chase at this course (24.8f, good to soft, 80/1) 41 days ago. Looks competitive on form.

Form: UU10P-4

Friendly Star²⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-8| J: P J Carberry| T: A J Martin| OR: 119

7/1

Arrives in decent nick, fifth of 11 in handicap chase at Fairyhouse (21.2f, soft) 28 days ago. Shortlisted.

Form: 245-235

Notice To Close^t²⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 11-8| J: J J Slevin| T: S Neville| OR: 119

14/1

12/1, took a step back in the right direction back under Rules when fourth of 11 in handicap chase at Fairyhouse (21.2f, soft) 28 days ago. Considered.

Form: PP006-4

Angels Dawn³⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 11-7| J: Phillip Enright| T: S Curling| OR: 118

3/1

Fairly useful winner at 24f over hurdles. 100/1, very good fourth of 8 in novice chase at Gowran (20f, heavy) 35 days ago. Makes handicap chase debut. Claims.

Form: 315-B84

Portstorm^t³⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 11-5| J: Shane O'Callaghan⁽⁷⁾| T: C A McBratney| OR: 116

13/2

Tongue strap on for 1st time, creditable sixth of 23 in handicap hurdle at Navan (22f, heavy, 25/1) 34 days ago. Switches from hurdles to chase. More is needed here though.

Form: 842B-06

Stumptown³⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-1| J: L P Dempsey| T: G P Cromwell| OR: 112

9/2

Fairly useful winner at 16f over hurdles. Took a big step back in the right direction when third of 12 in handicap chase at Thurles (18f, good to soft, 11/2) 30 days ago, staying on well. Up in trip and now firmly in the picture.

Form: 46-3753

Follow The Crowd^p⁶²

Age: 7| Weight: 10-13| J: Simon Torrens| T: A A Howard| OR: 110

5/1

Winner in chase at Roscommon in August. Good third of 13 in handicap chase at Galway (22.5f, heavy, 10/3) 62 days ago. Has to be taken seriously at these weights.

Form: 9-22F13

Ennemi Public^t,v1³⁷

Age: 8| Weight: 10-2| J: R Deegan| T: D Howard| OR: 99

28/1

One win from 24 NH runs. Below-par sixth of 14 in handicap chase (40/1) at Thurles (22f, soft) 37 days ago. Visored for 1st time. Thirteen runs since last win in 2020.

Form: PFP-506

Non-Runners

Royal Thief⁷⁶⁷

Weight: 11-12| Age: 8

T: H De Bromhead J: Mike O'Connor

Blast Of Koeman²

Weight: 11-0| Age: 11

T: P Maher J: Non Runner

Millen To One²

Weight: 11-0| Age: 8

T: F J Flood J: Sam Ewing

Oscer Romero³⁷

Weight: 10-7| Age: 7

T: P J Rothwell J: P J O'Hanlon

Forecasts

Angels Dawn (3/1), Stumptown (9/2), Follow The Crowd (5/1), Portstorm (13/2), Friendly Star (7/1), John Adams (10/1), Blast Of Koeman (10/1), Royal Thief (10/1), Brampton Belle (11/1), Notice To Close (14/1), Millen To One (16/1), Spades Are Trumps (20/1), Wa Wa (20/1), Oscer Romero (25/1), Ennemi Public (28/1), History Of Fashion (33/1)

FOLLOW THE CROWD arrives at the top of his game and is fancied to quickly resume winning ways off a handy-looking mark. Stumptown is feared most now his stamina is drawn out more, with C&D winner John Adams and handicap debutante Brampton Belle also firmly in the mix.