15:30 Ripon

Saturday 30 September 2023

All13:4514:2014:5515:3016:0516:4017:15

Ripon Cathedral City Of The Dales Handicap

Off time: 15:31 | Winning time: 1m 11.98s

(12)

Dakota Gold¹⁴

Age: 9| Weight: 9-12| J: Connor Beasley| T: M Dods| OR: 97| CD

17/2

Fine servant to connections but failed to come on for recent run at Doncaster (5.6f, good to soft) 14 days ago. Handicapper has been lenient (below last winning mark) and former Great St Wilfrid winner has a chance if rediscovering old form.

Form: 41-3700

(2)

Mr Wagyu^v⁷

Age: 8| Weight: 9-9| J: P Mulrennan| T: J & S Quinn| OR: 94| CD

9/2

Confirmed his return to form when eighth of 24 in Ayr Gold Cup (6f, good, 14/1) 7 days ago. Remains on a feasible mark and shouldn't be discounted.

Form: 774938

(9)

Indian Creak³⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 9-7| J: Rose Dawes⁽⁵⁾| T: J Channon| OR: 92| D

16/1

Has taken his form to a new level this summer, landing back-to-back events at Epsom in July and Windsor the following month. Not beaten far at all when fifth of 6 in handicap at Goodwood (6f, soft, 11/2) 34 days ago and should remain competitive from career-high mark.

Form: 306115

(5)

Brazen Bolt²¹

Age: 6| Weight: 9-6| J: Gianluca Sanna⁽⁵⁾| T: J & S Quinn| OR: 91| D

7/1

Eight wins from 31 Flat runs. 9/4, career best when winning 7-runner handicap at Thirsk (6f, good to soft) 21 days ago, pushed out. Up 4 lb but should remain competitive and big shout.

Form: 525521

(11)

Hyperfocus^p⁷

Age: 9| Weight: 9-6| J: D Allan| T: T D Easterby| OR: 91| CD

14/1

Scored over C&D in April and ran better than for a good while when third at Chester at the start of this month. Not in same form when thirteenth of 19 in handicap at York (5f, soft, 16/1) 7 days ago and others make more appeal.

Form: 500930

(8)

Twelfth Knight³²

Age: 4| Weight: 9-5| J: Ryan Sexton⁽³⁾| T: P T Midgley| OR: 90| CD

14/1

Three wins from 9 runs this year. Career best when winning 10-runner handicap at this C&D (good, 5/1) 32 days ago by ½ length from Origintrail, always holding on. 4 lb rise looks manageable and he should be in the mix again.

Form: 230301

(7)

Glorious Angel⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 8-13| J: Pierre-Louis Jamin| T: Grant Tuer| OR: 86| D

28/1

Three wins from 16 runs this year. Not disgraced when fifth of 7 in handicap (11/2) at Pontefract (6f, good to soft) 9 days ago. This looks more competitive but she's not fully discounted.

Form: 055225

(4)

Abate⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 8-13| J: Mia Nicholls⁽⁷⁾| T: Adrian Nicholls| OR: 84| CD

14/1

C&D winner. 4 wins from 12 runs this year. 7/1, career best when winning 11-runner handicap at Newmarket (6f, good) 7 days ago, digging deep. Has tended to struggle from this kind of mark in the past but he's clearly going through a good spell at present.

Form: 217531

(3)

The Turpinator⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 8-12| J: P J McDonald| T: Grant Tuer| OR: 83

11/2

Latest win at Thirsk in September. Creditable third of 17 in handicap (8/1) at York (7f, soft) 7 days ago. Interesting dropping to a sprint trip for the first time.

Form: 785613

(10)

Quintus Arrius^p⁵⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 8-12| J: B A Curtis| T: P D Niven| OR: 85| BF| D

25/1

Latest win at Hamilton in May. Respectable third of 7 in handicap at Doncaster (6f, heavy) 56 days ago. First run for yard after leaving Kevin Ryan. Cheekpieces back on. Place claims.

Form: 6-12103

(1)

Danzan^p⁷

Age: 8| Weight: 8-11| J: Sean Kirrane| T: T D Easterby| OR: 82| D

8/1

Latest win at Thirsk in June and was placed twice there prior to finishing twelfth of 25 in Ayr Silver Cup (6f, good) 7 days ago. Others more persuasive.

Form: 178230

(13)

Origintrail²¹

Age: 4| Weight: 8-8| J: G Lee| T: B Haslam| OR: 79| CD

17/2

C&D winner last season and finished runner-up here both outings in August, unlucky not to have scored on the first occasion. 11/2, not in same form when fifth of 7 in handicap at Thirsk (7f, good to soft) 21 days ago but merits respect on return to Ripon.

Form: 684225

(6)

Dare To Hope¹⁷

Age: 3| Weight: 8-7| J: Andrew Breslin⁽³⁾| T: R A Fahey| OR: 80

14/1

Broke on terms for a change and produced his best effort of the season when second of 14 in handicap at Southwell (6.1f) 17 days ago. Needs to take another step forward to get involved in this higher grade, however.

Form: 43-6072

Forecasts

Mr Wagyu (9/2), The Turpinator (11/2), Brazen Bolt (7/1), Danzan (8/1), Dakota Gold (17/2), Origintrail (17/2), Dare To Hope (14/1), Abate (14/1), Hyperfocus (14/1), Twelfth Knight (14/1), Indian Creak (16/1), Quintus Arrius (25/1), Glorious Angel (28/1)

BRAZEN BOLT has looked as good as ever in recent weeks, and having had a bit more of a break than those that ran at Ayr last weekend, John Quinn's gelding is fancied to follow up from his latest Thirsk success. Fellow last-time-out winner Twelfth Knight has a fine C&D record and can be in the mix again, whilst this is a less-competitive affair than is often contested by Mr Wagyu and he also merits respect after a pair of good efforts in big-field events.