18:10 Southwell

Thursday 16 March 2023

All17:0517:4018:1018:4019:1019:4020:10

Spreadex Sports Cheltenham Festival Specials Handicap

Off time: 18:13 | Winning time: 1m 27.01s

(2)

Custard The Dragon^p²³

Age: 10| Weight: 9-11| J: Connor Beasley| T: J Mackie| OR: 67| CD

18/1

9-time C&D winner. 100/1, last of 14 in handicap at this course (8.1f) 23 days ago. Been a while since he's made an impact and the likelihood is that he's on the downgrade now.

Form: 1269-90

(9)

Like A Lion^b²¹

Age: 4| Weight: 9-10| J: Brandon Wilkie⁽⁷⁾| T: T D Easterby| OR: 66| D

22/1

Latest win at Newcastle in December. 4/1, respectable sixth of 11 in handicap at this C&D 21 days ago. Hit and miss profile but is now only 1 lb last winning mark in addition to rider's 7 lb claim.

Form: 016-636

(7)

Saisons D'Or¹⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 9-9| J: J Garritty| T: Jedd O'Keeffe| OR: 65| D

5/1

Some encouragement when fifth of 10 in handicap at Newcastle (7.1f) 14 days ago, headed final 1f having done too much too soon. On career-low mark and isn't discounted.

Form: 66080-5

(1)

Mabre^b¹²

Age: 6| Weight: 9-9| J: Jordan Williams⁽⁵⁾| T: P D Evans| OR: 65

9/1

5/1 and blinkered for 1st time, improved on recent efforts to win 8-runner handicap at Lingfield (8f, AW) 12 days ago. Rider's claim more than offsets 4 lb rise and he's a player.

Form: 148071

(3)

Yoshimi²⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 9-9| J: T Eaves| T: M Herrington| OR: 65| D

8/1

Latest win at Chelmsford City in November. 13/2, sixth of 7 in handicap there (7f) 28 days ago. Still yet to put his best foot forward this season and others are preferred.

Form: 189-956

(5)

Mostallim^p⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 9-6| J: Frederick Larson⁽³⁾| T: M Appleby| OR: 62| D

10/1

Four wins from 17 runs last year. Not disgraced when seventh of 9 in handicap (9/2) at Newcastle (6f) 7 days ago. Back to a potentially lenient mark.

Form: 47-5977

(4)

Daafy^v⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 9-6| J: Cam Hardie| T: D Shaw| OR: 62| CD

2/1

15/2, creditable second of 10 in handicap at this course (8.1f) 9 days ago, helped by being held up in strongly-run race. Can give another good account.

Form: 2-03722

(10)

Bobby Joe Leg^b¹⁴

Age: 9| Weight: 9-4| J: J P Sullivan| T: Mrs R Carr| OR: 60| CD

11/1

C&D winner. Four wins from 14 runs last year. Creditable fourth of 10 in handicap at Newcastle (7.1f, 12/1) 14 days ago, unable to sustain effort. Blinkers back on. Not discounted despite wide draw.

Form: 27-2384

(8)

Turbo Command¹⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 9-1| J: P Mulrennan| T: Mrs A C Hamilton| OR: 57| CD

9/2

Improved on recent efforts to win 14-runner handicap (25/1) at this C&D 16 days ago. Consistency has never been a strong point though and he needs to now back that up.

Form: 7020-91

Non-Runners

(6)

Martin's Brig²⁴

Weight: 9-5| Age: 6

T: D Thompson J: Non Runner

Forecasts

Daafy (2/1), Turbo Command (9/2), Saisons D'Or (5/1), Martin's Brig (6/1), Yoshimi (8/1), Mabre (9/1), Mostallim (10/1), Bobby Joe Leg (11/1), Custard The Dragon (18/1), Like A Lion (22/1)

MABRE had a bit in hand when scoring at Lingfield and is effectively now racing from a lower mark with his rider's 5 lb claim offsetting the rise dealt by the handicapper. He gets the vote over Daafy and Like A Lion.