15:00 Taunton

Thursday 8 January 2026

All13:0013:3014:0014:3015:0015:3016:00

26 February Landlord's Raceday Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 15:01 | Winning time: 4m 52.25s

Brave Knight^p⁶²

Age: 6| Weight: 12-2| J: Freddie Keighley⁽⁷⁾| T: P F Nicholls| OR: 127| BF

13/2

Pretty useful under both codes. Better than ever when easy winner of Fontwell conditional jockeys' handicap under Freddie Keighley in October. Possibly unsuited by softer ground when only third off the same mark back at Fontwell 12 days later. Still looks fairly treated and can bounce straight back.

Form: 4-03713

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Bluegrass^p,t³²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-10| J: Harry Reed| T: S Edmunds| OR: 121

28/1

Matched best form (following another wind surgery) when landing a weak race on Southwell reappearance in October. Only one creditable effort to show from a trio of runs since but he has dropped to only 1 lb above the mark he defied at Southwell.

Form: 16-1738

American Sniper^b,t²⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 11-10| J: Rian Corcoran⁽⁷⁾| T: D Pipe| OR: 121| C

4/1

Course winner. 9/1, creditable 3 lengths second of 11 to Celtic Art over C&D (good) 28 days ago. Enters calculations.

Form: 606-032

Celtic Art^b²⁸

Age: 9| Weight: 11-8| J: Lorcan Williams| T: J Scott| OR: 119| CD

18/5

Back to form rather out of the blue when beating the reopposing American Sniper by 3 lengths to win a C&D handicap (good) 4 weeks ago. A 6 lb rise for that might leave him vulnerable for win purposes.

Form: 147-581

Benvoy^t,v1¹⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: G Sheehan| T: Miss J S Davis| OR: 116

9/1

Back to form with a bang after wind surgery (blinkers also refitted) when making all at Huntingdon (2m, soft) 17 days ago. Was granted a soft lead, though, and suspicion even a 3 lb nudge could leave him vulnerable. A first-time visor replaces the blinkers now.

Form: 11-6891

Breezethroughlife^t²⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: J M Quinlan| T: N B King| OR: 113

10/1

Confirmed promise of Irish maiden hurdle debut when making successful start for Neil King in Fakenham maiden in October. Ran poorly in a better race at Kempton next time but got immediately back on the up when second in 3m handicap at Doncaster (good to soft) 26 days ago. Player back down in trip.

Form: P3-152

Fight My Fire³⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: Brendan Powell| T: J Tizzard| OR: 111

22/1

Got off the mark 2¼m maiden at Fontwell in October. Sound enough start to his handicap career when fourth of 9 over 2m at Sandown (soft) 5 weeks ago. His unexposed profile suggests he could have more to offer.

Form: 68-U134

Time Interval^p1¹⁹

Age: 8| Weight: 10-11| J: Thomas Bellamy| T: David Dennis| OR: 108| D

11/1

Landed back-to-back handicaps hurdles at Stratford/Warwick last spring. Also placed twice during the summer but his more recent efforts have been disappointing. First-time cheekpieces need to help spark a revival.

Form: 123077

Him Malaya^t²⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 10-9| J: Miss Olive Nicholls⁽⁵⁾| T: P F Nicholls| OR: 106| CD

10/3

C&D winner last season and has recorded creditable in-frame efforts over C&D on his last 2 outings. Likely to be in the shake-up again.

Form: 34-3934

Zhang Fei⁴⁵

Age: 8| Weight: 10-6| J: Fern O'Brien⁽⁵⁾| T: F O'Brien| OR: 103

25/1

Dual scorer over timber last year. No impact in 2 Flat runs for John Gallagher in September and has performed no more than respectably in a couple of hurdles since rejoining Fergal O'Brien.

Form: 231F-57

Forecasts

Him Malaya (10/3), Celtic Art (18/5), American Sniper (4/1), Brave Knight (13/2), Benvoy (9/1), Breezethroughlife (10/1), Time Interval (11/1), Fight My Fire (22/1), Zhang Fei (25/1), Bluegrass (28/1)

BRAVE KNIGHT had a possible excuse when beaten at short odds at Fontwell last time and is given another chance as he continues to look fairly treated on the form of his win there prior to that. The low-mileage Fight My Fire might give him most to do ahead of Neil King's Breezethroughlife.