14:00 Ffos Las

Thursday 5 January 2023

All13:0013:3014:0014:3015:0015:3016:00

Happy Birthday Lynn 3A's Handicap Chase

Off time: 14:00 | Winning time: 5m 45.5s

Destin D'Ajonc^t³³

Age: 10| Weight: 12-2| J: Jonjo O'Neill Jr.| T: J & A O'Neill| OR: 112

20/1

Dual winner over fences at Chepstow but took little interest returning from 8 months off at that venue 5 weeks back. Needs to leave that well behind to figure.

Form: 9/5143-8

Brulure Noire⁶⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: J M Quinlan| T: R Bandey| OR: 108| C

13/8

Hurdles winner in Ireland who justified support when opening account over fences at this course (16f, soft) in November. Return to longer trip will suit and is open to improvement in this sphere.

Form: 67106-1

Art Of Illusion^p¹⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 11-11| J: James Bowen| T: W Greatrex| OR: 107

6/1

Off the mark first time up over fences at Plumpton (25.7f) in October but more recent efforts have been disappointing and plenty to prove at present.

Form: 251353

Bobby Bow⁶⁴²

Age: 9| Weight: 11-10| J: Luca Morgan⁽³⁾| T: B Pauling| OR: 106| BF

7/2

Winning Irish pointer who made a successful Rules debut over hurdles at Hexham in November 2020. Couldn't build on that in 4 subsequent starts over timber but yard remains in fine form and is worth a second look in the market sent chasing on return from 21-month absence.

Form: 114863/

Great Khan^b1,t¹⁰

Age: 12| Weight: 11-8| J: T J O'Brien| T: P Henderson| OR: 104

100/1

Poor strike rate in Ireland and failed to complete all 3 starts for current connections. Blinkers now tried.

Form: 9PFP-PP

Caswell Bay⁴¹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-8| J: Conor Ring⁽³⁾| T: Evan Williams| OR: 104

12/1

Returned to form over hurdles when second at Chepstow in January. Yet to match that form over fences, though, brushed aside on reappearance here in November.

Form: 56252-6

Higgs⁴⁸

Age: 10| Weight: 11-4| J: W T Kennedy| T: S-J Davies| OR: 100

40/1

Dual winner who proved expensive to follow for Dr Richard Newland. Sold for just £2,500 and yet to make an impact in 3 outings for this yard.

Form: 532/52-6

Pilgrims King^t⁷⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 10-13| J: S Bowen| T: P & M Bowen| OR: 95| BF| C

20/1

Won twice over hurdles (both 15.8f) this summer before finishing a gallant second in his hat-trick bid. Below that level both starts since, however, and remains to be seen if switch to chasing brings about improvement.

Form: 0-11247

The Boat^p²⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 10-4| J: Adam Wedge| T: Evan Williams| OR: 86

7/2

Career best when winning 8-runner handicap chase at Leicester (22.7f, good to firm, 9/4) 29 days ago, staying on well. 7 lb higher now but should give another good account.

Form: 1P33-21

Non-Runners

Kestrel Valley¹

Weight: 10-2| Age: 9

T: M Sheppard J: R Patrick

Forecasts

Brulure Noire (13/8), Bobby Bow (7/2), The Boat (7/2), Art Of Illusion (6/1), Caswell Bay (12/1), Kestrel Valley (12/1), Destin D'Ajonc (20/1), Pilgrims King (20/1), Higgs (40/1), Great Khan (100/1)

There should be more to come from BRULURE NOIRE, who made a winning chase debut here in November and will appreciate this stiffer test of stamina. The Boat looks the obvious danger on form, whilst market support for Ben Pauling's chase debutant Bobby Bow could prove significant.