20:00 Chelmsford City

Thursday 14 December 2023

All17:3018:0018:3019:0019:3020:0020:30

Chelmsford City Racecourse Membership Handicap

Off time: 20:05 | Winning time: 1m 36.21s

(7)

Tacarib Bay³³

Age: 4| Weight: 9-13| J: Joe Leavy⁽⁷⁾| T: R Hannon| OR: 106

12/1

Career best when winning 9-runner listed race at Newcastle (6f, 8/1) 33 days ago by ¾ length from Sense of Duty, driven out. Significantly back up in trip. Needs considering.

Form: 366051

(4)

Helm Rock^t⁵⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 9-5| J: R Kingscote| T: D & C Kubler| OR: 98| D

11/2

Latest win at Kempton in September. 40/1, below form eleventh of 20 in handicap at Ascot (8f, soft) 54 days ago so needs to bounce back.

Form: 671150

(2)

Diderot^h¹⁸⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 9-5| J: Daniel Muscutt| T: J Ferguson| OR: 98| CD

14/1

C&D winner. Ninth of 10 in handicap (8/1) at this course (10f). Off 6 months. Others have achieved more.

Form: 232109

(3)

Excel Power^p²⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 9-4| J: Joshua Bryan| T: A Watson| OR: 97| CD

7/1

C&D winner. 18/1, respectable fifth of 9 in handicap at Kempton (8f) 24 days ago. Shortlisted.

Form: 669735

(1)

Desert Order⁴³²

Age: 3| Weight: 9-1| J: D Tudhope| T: C Appleby| OR: 95

5/2

Lightly-raced winner. Career best when winning 9-runner nursery at Newmarket (7f, good, 11/10). Off 14 months ahead of his polytrack debut but remains open to improvement.

Form: 3211-

(5)

Lord Bertie⁸⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: Callum Shepherd| T: Jane Chapple-Hyam| OR: 94| BF| D

9/2

Lightly-raced winner. 1 win from 3 runs this year. Respectable fifth of 9 in handicap (7/2) at Yarmouth (9.1f, good to soft) 85 days ago. First run for yard after leaving William Haggas. Not ruled out.

Form: 31-185

(6)

Fantastic Fox²⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 8-13| J: David Egan| T: R Varian| OR: 92| CD

7/2

C&D winner. 5/1, won 12-runner handicap at Newcastle (8f) 29 days ago, Up 4 lb but had something to spare there so he rates a big player in his hat-trick bid.

Form: 550511

(8)

Batemans Bay²⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 8-12| J: C Lee| T: K A Ryan| OR: 92| D

22/1

Ninth of 14 in handicap at Kempton (12f, 8/1) 29 days ago. Significantly down in trip. Has work to do.

Form: 14-0589

Non-Runners

(9)

Rhythm N Rock⁵⁰

Weight: 8-7| Age: 5

T: J Butler J: Harry Davies

Forecasts

Desert Order (5/2), Fantastic Fox (7/2), Lord Bertie (9/2), Helm Rock (11/2), Excel Power (7/1), Rhythm N Rock (10/1), Tacarib Bay (12/1), Diderot (14/1), Batemans Bay (22/1)

FANTASTIC FOX ran out a ready scorer at Newcastle last time and can also boast a C&D success so Roger Varian's 5-y-o looks the way to go in his hat-trick attempt. In-form Rhythm N Rock rates the main danger off a handy-looking mark, with Newcastle-victor Tacarib Bay and the returning Desert Order others who need factoring into an open handicap.