Bet Racing In Running At BetVictor Novices' Limited Handicap Chase (GBB Race)

Off time: 16:05 | Winning time: 6m 19.0s

Makin'yourmindup²¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-10| J: H Cobden| T: P F Nicholls| OR: 134| CD

11/8

Likeable sort who improved when opening his account in this sphere over C&D 3 weeks ago. Probably fair to say that a couple of his rivals underperformed on that occasion but 3 lb rise is certainly not harsh and he remains unexposed as a chaser.

Form: 214-421

Charles Ritz³⁵

Age: 8| Weight: 10-12| J: J J Burke| T: T R George| OR: 122

4/1

Low-mileage 8-y-o who tasted success over hurdles and improved when opening his chase account following at Exeter (19.2f, heavy) on New Year's Day. Better ground was probably against him at Cheltenham since but others make more appeal here in any case.

Form: 5/642-16

Pulling Stumps³⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 10-10| J: M G Nolan| T: P Hobbs & J White| OR: 120| BF

5/2

Progressive hurdler who built on chase bow/return when good second over this C&D in December. In the process of running a big race when falling 2 out at Chepstow and he has to be taken seriously.

Form: 312/52F

Heaven Smart^b²²

Age: 7| Weight: 10-5| J: N F Houlihan| T: G & J Moore| OR: 113

9/2

The addition of blinkers and more positive tactics seemingly worked wonders at Kempton (3m, soft) where he landed a 6-runner handicap without breaking sweat. 2 lb 'wrong' at the weights here, despite going up 11 lb for that, but he's dangerous to discount.

Form: 4P-U351

Non-Runners

Egbert³⁵

Weight: 11-4| Age: 7

T: A King J: Tom Cannon

Hitching Jacking⁵²

Weight: 11-2| Age: 7

T: D Skelton J: Fergus Gillard

Forecasts

Makin'yourmindup (11/8), Pulling Stumps (5/2), Egbert (3/1), Charles Ritz (4/1), Heaven Smart (9/2), Hitching Jacking (7/1)

All six of these can be given a chance and it's HEAVEN SMART who earns the vote. He has much more on his plate than when making all at Kempton last month but it was a striking performance and he could take some pegging back if again ridden positively. Pulling Stumps is just about second choice ahead of Makin'yourmindup and Egbert.