15:05 Leopardstown

Sunday 29 December 2024

All12:1012:4513:2013:5514:3015:0515:40

Neville Hotels Premier Handicap Hurdle (0-150) (Listed)

Off time: 15:06 | Winning time: 4m 51.01s

Maxxum²⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: Carl Millar⁽⁵⁾| T: G Elliott| OR: 149| C

40/1

Course winner. Six wins from 23 NH runs. 50/1, well-beaten last of 4 to Lossiemouth in Hatton's Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse (20f, good) 28 days ago.

Form: 6F1-P84

Tounsivator²⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-7| J: Paul Townend| T: W P Mullins| OR: 144

9/1

12/1, career best when winning 8-runner Royal Bond Novices' Hurdle at Fairyhouse (16.5f, good) 28 days ago by 2½ lengths from Romeo Coolio. Respected.

Form: 67-2151

Bottler'secret^b,t1²⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-3| J: Keith Donoghue| T: G P Cromwell| OR: 140

12/1

Lightly-raced winner over hurdles. 5/2, 23¼ lengths fifth of 7 to Anzadam in Mullinan Hurdle at Fairyhouse (16f, good) 29 days ago. Up in trip. Tongue strap on 1st time. Makes handicap hurdle debut.

Form: 112-35

Mr Percy⁴³

Age: 4| Weight: 10-13| J: D A Jacob| T: J P O'Brien| OR: 136

15/2

Thrice-raced winner over hurdles. 8/1, 5 lengths second of 7 to Bleu De Vassy in For Auction Novices' Hurdle at Navan (16.2f, good to soft) 43 days ago, clear of rest. Makes handicap hurdle debut. More to come and big player.

Form: U12

Shadow Rider³⁵

Age: 10| Weight: 10-13| J: Aidan Kelly⁽⁵⁾| T: P Roche| OR: 136| D

50/1

28/1, creditable seventh of 15 in handicap hurdle at Punchestown (24.1f, good to soft) 35 days ago.

Form: 7P121-7

Hms Seahorse²⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 10-10| J: Sean O'Keeffe| T: P Nolan| OR: 133| D

40/1

Tenth of 13 in handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse (16.5f, good, 22/1) 28 days ago. Up in trip.

Form: 3104/5-0

Lucky Lyreen²²

Age: 6| Weight: 10-10| J: Danny Gilligan| T: G Elliott| OR: 133| D

50/1

Below form thirteenth of 20 in handicap hurdle (50/1) at Navan (25.2f, soft) 22 days ago. Back down in trip. Others more persuasive.

Form: 3211P-0

Sa Fureur²²

Age: 7| Weight: 10-10| J: Sam Ewing| T: G Elliott| OR: 133| D

5/1

Very smart winner at 21f in chases. 9/4, career best when winning 19-runner handicap chase at Navan (20.7f, soft) 22 days ago. Switches from chase to hurdles. Shortlist material.

Form: F124-21

Al Gasparo^t⁶⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 10-9| J: Conor Stone-Walsh⁽⁵⁾| T: G P Cromwell| OR: 132| BF

20/1

2 wins from 5 runs this season. Latest win in hurdle at Killarney in October. Eleventh of 12 in handicap hurdle (9/2) at Cheltenham (24f, good) 64 days ago.

Form: 2-15310

Any Road⁵⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 10-9| J: M M McDonagh| T: E J O'Grady| OR: 132| D

22/1

1 win from 2 runs this season. 15/2, didn't need to improve to win 6-runner minor event hurdle at Fairyhouse (20.5f, good) 54 days ago, going clear.

Form: 43630-1

So Scottish^p,t²⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 10-9| J: Mark Walsh| T: E Mullins| OR: 132| D

10/1

Thirteen runs since last win in 2022. Creditable seventh of 13 in handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse (16.5f, good, 9/2) 28 days ago, left poorly placed. Back up in trip. Cheekpieces back on.

Form: 0-24527

Comfort Zone^b⁷⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 10-8| J: Simon Torrens| T: J P O'Brien| OR: 131

6/1

Career best when winning 20-runner handicap at Naas (16.1f, good to soft, 4/1) 77 days ago, readily. Switches from Flat to hurdles. Useful hurdler, creditable on last hurdle outing.

Form: 1/07-763

Kings Hill⁴³

Age: 5| Weight: 10-8| J: J G Gilligan⁽⁵⁾| T: P J Gilligan| OR: 131

22/1

22/1, seventh of 10 in handicap hurdle at Cheltenham (21f, good) 43 days ago.

Form: 4-03237

Lucky Zebo⁷⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 10-8| J: Darragh O'Keeffe| T: H De Bromhead| OR: 131| D

50/1

Latest win in hurdle at Cork in March. 33/1, below form tenth of 17 in handicap hurdle at Chepstow (19.4f, good to soft) 78 days ago. Stable in good form. Others more persuasive.

Form: 817-680

The Busy Fool⁴⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-5| J: Tiernan Power Roche⁽⁷⁾| T: P J Rothwell| OR: 128| D

13/2

11/2, career best when winning 11-runner handicap hurdle at Naas (20f, good to soft) 49 days ago by ¾ length from Park of Kings. Can give another good account

Form: 12331-1

Harsh^p²⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 10-2| J: Patrick M O'Brien⁽⁷⁾| T: G Elliott| OR: 125

18/1

20/1, creditable fourth of 24 in handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse (20.2f, good) 29 days ago. Yard in good form. Bold bid expected.

Form: 41-6094

Slane Hill^b⁴³

Age: 7| Weight: 10-2| J: Alex Harvey⁽⁵⁾| T: B Connell| OR: 125| D

11/1

Blinkered for 1st time, career best when winning 19-runner handicap hurdle at Navan (20.2f, good to soft, 9/1) 43 days ago, kept up to work. Claims if the headgear works as well again.

Form: 3-64791

Park Of Kings^t⁴⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-0| J: Peter Smithers⁽⁷⁾| T: P Nolan| OR: 123| D

8/1

Latest win in hurdle at Gowran in October. 6/1, good ¾-length second of 11 to The Busy Fool in handicap hurdle at Naas (20f, good to soft) 49 days ago. Enters calculations.

Form: 0-06102

Sir Allen⁴⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-0| J: Cian Quirke⁽⁵⁾| T: A Slattery| OR: 122| BF

12/1

10/3, good 1¾ lengths third of 11 to The Busy Fool in handicap hurdle at Naas (20f, good to soft) 49 days ago.

Form: 0464-73

Ms Agartha Yeats⁶³

Age: 6| Weight: 10-0| J: M J M O'Sullivan| T: F G Hand| OR: 120| D

33/1

1 win from 1 run this season. First run since leaving Hugh P. Finegan when career best when winning 5-runner minor event hurdle (8/1) at Wexford (20f, heavy) 63 days ago.

Form: 1/02P8-1

Non-Runners

Jigoro²

Weight: 10-12| Age: 5

T: G Elliott J: F Brickley

No Looking Back³⁶

Weight: 10-9| Age: 6

T: O McKiernan J: Phillip Enright

Raglan Road²⁷⁴

Weight: 10-3| Age: 6

T: H De Bromhead J: Rachael Blackmore

Forecasts

Sa Fureur (5/1), Comfort Zone (6/1), The Busy Fool (13/2), Mr Percy (15/2), Park Of Kings (8/1), Tounsivator (9/1), So Scottish (10/1), Slane Hill (11/1), Sir Allen (12/1), Bottler'secret (12/1), Harsh (18/1), Al Gasparo (20/1), Kings Hill (22/1), Any Road (22/1), Raglan Road (25/1), Jigoro (25/1), Ms Agartha Yeats (33/1), No Looking Back (33/1), Maxxum (40/1), Hms Seahorse (40/1), Lucky Lyreen (50/1), Shadow Rider (50/1), Lucky Zebo (50/1)

SA FUREUR followed a promising third in a Navan handicap hurdle on his reappearance by defying his higher chase mark back at the same venue 3 weeks ago and can go in again back over the smaller obstacles. Mr Percy has made a promising start to his hurdle career and is a very interesting newcomer to the handicapping scene. Royal Bond winner Tounsivator and the selection's stablemate Harsh complete the shortlist.