13:00 Wetherby

Saturday 27 December 2025

All12:2513:0013:3514:1514:4515:20

William Hill Keep Your Raceday Positive Novices' Hurdle (GBB Race)

Off time: 13:00 | Winning time: 4m 5.98s

Alsakib⁸⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: B S Hughes| T: D McCain Jnr

2/1

Dam half-sister to fairly useful hurdler (2m winner) Vaqueras. Useful stayer on Flat of late, sixth in Prix du Cadran at Longchamp last time. Has left Andrew Balding and having joined a good NH yard, he can be a big factor.

Form:

Chillingham⁸¹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-0| J: Ryan Mania| T: Micky Hammond

17/2

Dam half-sister to useful 2m hurdle winner Rock Critic. Useful handicapper on Flat (stays 1¾m), run best excused last time. Sold from Edward Bethell 14,000 gns in October.

Form:

Dartmouth Castle⁸⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: Theo Gillard| T: D McCain Jnr

11/1

Landed Sedgefield bumper in May and backed it up with a good fourth of 9 there (16.8f, good to firm) in September. Now goes hurdling and one of 2 runners for the yard.

Form: 6-14

Greedy Smith⁴⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: Benjamin Macey⁽⁷⁾| T: J & A O'Neill

14/1

Walk In The Park gelding who has displayed ability in 3 his runs so far but could be a longer-term project.

Form: 4-77

Liberty Coach²¹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: Craig Nichol| T: J & S Quinn

22/1

Dam half-sister to fairly useful 17f hurdle winner Jabbaar. Useful handicapper on Flat (stays 1½m), successful once in 2025. Usual cheekpieces left off and low-key hurdles debut over C&D recently.

Form: 0

Littletown Lad^h²⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: Tom Midgley⁽³⁾| T: S England

125/1

Merely hinted at promise so far.

Form: 3/94-80

Minstrel Knight¹³

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: Sean Quinlan| T: E Bethell

15/2

Fairly useful stayer on Flat and shaped well on hurdle debut, would have finished second (no match for winner) but for falling 2 out over C&D last month. Just kept on for the one pace in fifth at Southwell since.

Form: F5

Sovereignlightcafe²²

Age: 4| Weight: 11-0| J: Jamie Hamilton| T: M & D Easterby

10/1

A fair and lightly-raced maiden on Flat in the first half of 2024. Returned from 17 months off and displayed aptitude for hurdling when third of 9 at Sedgefield this month.

Form: 3

Steel Soldier²²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: Conor Rabbitt⁽³⁾| T: J R Norton

250/1

Little impact in Irish points and same story under Rules.

Form: 7F/806-9

Tea Boy¹⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: Callum Bewley| T: P Atkinson

28/1

Makes plenty of appeal on pedigree and produced a promising first effort when runner-up to a subsequent winner at Hexham in March. Failed to repeat that effort both starts since and now goes hurdling.

Form: 2-55

Two Brothers^t1²¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-0| J: P W Wadge| T: M & D Easterby

2/1

Fairly useful handicapper on Flat (stays 12.5f) who didn't arrive in top form on the level but made a promising hurdles debut over C&D 3 weeks ago. More to come with a tongue tie now on.

Form: 3

Non-Runners

Nosy Neighbour³²

Weight: 11-0| Age: 4

T: R Menzies J: Nathan Moscrop

Forecasts

Alsakib (2/1), Two Brothers (2/1), Minstrel Knight (15/2), Chillingham (17/2), Sovereignlightcafe (10/1), Dartmouth Castle (11/1), Greedy Smith (14/1), Nosy Neighbour (16/1), Liberty Coach (22/1), Tea Boy (28/1), Littletown Lad (125/1), Steel Soldier (250/1)

ALSAKIB is a high-quality recruit to hurdling (Group 3 winner) so assuming he takes to this new discipline, he could well outclass these. Two Brothers and Nosy Neighbour are potential improvers.