14:50 Chelmsford City

Thursday 20 June 2024

All14:1514:5015:3016:1016:5017:20

Esprit Couture 1er Cru Handicap

Off time: 14:51 | Winning time: 58.69s

(8)

Emperor Spirit^t,p³⁷⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 9-10| J: Daniel Muscutt| T: R M H Cowell| OR: 86| C

18/1

Course winner. Creditable second of 12 in handicap at Haydock (6f, firm, 10/1). Off 12 months. Worth monitoring in market on return.

Form: 437162-

(7)

Princess Shabnam²⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 9-8| J: Kaiya Fraser⁽⁵⁾| T: S Woods| OR: 84| C| D

6/1

Course winner. Fourteen runs since last win in 2022. Creditable fourth of 10 in handicap at Kempton (7f, 25/1) 29 days ago, doing too much too soon. Down in trip. Others have achieved more.

Form: 740-504

(3)

Rocking Ends¹⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 9-7| J: J Mitchell| T: Tom Clover| OR: 83| BF| D

7/4

Latest win at Windsor in May. 9/4, creditable fifth of 10 at same course at Windsor (5.1f, good to firm) 10 days ago. Not out of things.

Form: 7-90315

(5)

Lord Riddiford¹⁹

Age: 9| Weight: 9-7| J: Jason Hart| T: J & S Quinn| OR: 83| CD

12/1

Three-time C&D winner but yet to really fire this year and ran poorly, back from 3 months off, at Epsom 19 days ago. Been given a chance by the handicapper, though.

Form: 325-450

(9)

Harry Brown¹⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 9-5| J: Joey Haynes| T: D M Simcock| OR: 81| CD

15/2

C&D winner who bounced back to form when third of 6 in handicap at Lingfield (5f, AW) 16 days ago. 1 lb lower now and warrants respect.

Form: 8-24553

(1)

Almaty Star^p¹⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 8-13| J: Ray Dawson| T: R M H Cowell| OR: 75| D

4/1

Posted best effort of the season, in first-time cheekpieces, when second of 6 in handicap at Lingfield (5f, AW) 16 days ago. Can race off same mark here and must enter calculations.

Form: 5-87532

(2)

Dark Side Prince^p²⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 8-8| J: Harrison Shaw| T: Jessica Macey| OR: 70| CD

11/2

Completed a C&D hat-trick, back from 8 weeks off, when taking 9-runner handicap 28 days ago, driven out. 3 lb rise fair and looks sure to go well again.

Form: 34-5111

(6)

Buraback^p¹⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 8-4| J: Raul Da Silva| T: D Shaw| OR: 66| CD

18/1

C&D winner. 4 wins from 12 runs this year. Latest win at Leicester in April. Bit below form fifth of 13 in handicap (33/1) at Haydock (5f, good) 14 days ago, first home in group. Warrants respect.

Form: 131105

Non-Runners

(4)

The Defiant²

Weight: 8-4| Age: 8

T: L A Dace J: Mia Nicholls

Forecasts

Rocking Ends (7/4), Almaty Star (4/1), Dark Side Prince (11/2), Princess Shabnam (6/1), Harry Brown (15/2), Lord Riddiford (12/1), Emperor Spirit (18/1), Buraback (18/1), The Defiant (25/1)

Multiple C&D scorer DARK SIDE PRINCE steps into a higher grade but is clearly thriving and may be able to continue his winning run. Almaty Star and Harry Brown rate the principal dangers.