19:40 Ayr

Friday 23 June 2017

All18:3019:0519:4020:1020:4521:15

Heverlee Maiden Stakes

Off time: 19:43 | Winning time: 1m 57.18s

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Selected odds by:

(4)

Starplex⁵⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 10-0| J: Rowan Scott⁽⁵⁾| T: K Dalgleish

25/1

Bumper and 2m4½f handicap hurdle winner, rated 108 over hurdles and now trying the Flat for the first time. His dam is a half-sister to a 1m Flat winner and this trip and ground look fine for him. Interesting to see what the market makes of his chance.

Form:

(2)

Traditional Dancer^p1⁴¹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-0| J: D Nolan| T: I Jardine

18/1

0-2 on the Flat, with both his wins being over hurdles at up to 2m5f. Was placed in Listed company in that sphere in February and is rated 128 as a hurdler, so if he can translate that to the Flat in first-time cheekpieces, then he should be involved, though not a lot of encouragement from his previous efforts.

Form: 0/4-

(8)

Bolder Bob²⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 9-3| J: B A Curtis| T: T D Barron| BF

10/1

Has made the frame in both starts so far, including over this trip on debut at Redcar (soft) in October. Didn't show much in the way of improvement back there over 1m2f (good) when sent off favourite last month, but with that under his belt he may begin to progress.

Form: 3-3

(9)

Born To Boom¹⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 9-3| J: C Lee⁽⁵⁾| T: K R Burke| OR: 73

13/2

Best of his three efforts so far was probably his second start at Thirsk (1m, good), when beaten just under 3L and it was perhaps the soft ground rather than this trip that put paid to him last time. Certainly not dismissed back on a sound surface.

Form: 335

(1)

Chinese Spirit²⁷⁰

Age: 3| Weight: 9-3| J: P J McDonald| T: R M Smith

40/1

Last of seven and beaten 20L on debut at Hamilton (6f, heavy) in September. Pedigree suggests that this trip will be much more suitable and so should be able to show some improvement. Otherwise an unknown quantity and the market should be informative.

Form: 7-

(7)

Lamloom¹⁸

Age: 3| Weight: 9-3| J: D Tudhope| T: D O'Meara| OR: 78

2/1

Ran well over this trip at Ripon two starts ago (good) and is the best of these to have a handicap mark. However, also vulnerable as he showed here over 1m last time. Wouldn't be winning out of turn, but may find one too good.

Form: 65-3242

(6)

Vindicator²⁰

Age: 3| Weight: 9-3| J: P Mulrennan| T: M Dods

22/1

Showed a decent level of improvement for what was admittedly a moderate debut run when tried at Newcastle (1m2f) last time. Needs to step up by a similar amount again on that to be getting involved here.

Form: 64

(3)

Liquid Gold¹⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 8-12| J: T Hamilton| T: R A Fahey| BF

11/8

Has run to a similar level of form in maidens at Beverley (7½f, good) and Ripon (1m, good to soft) so far. Will need to improve on those to win this, but the step up in trip is likely to help with that and should be thereabouts.

Form: 22

Non-Runners

(5)

Ebtkaar¹⁸

Weight: 9-3| Age: 3

T: R Varian J: P Mulrennan

Forecasts

Liquid Gold (11/8), Lamloom (2/1), Ebtkaar (9/4), Born To Boom (13/2), Bolder Bob (10/1), Traditional Dancer (18/1), Vindicator (22/1), Starplex (25/1), Chinese Spirit (40/1)

Bolder Bob and Born To Boom could begin to kick on after showing some promise so far, while Liquid Gold should also be better for going a bit further. Lamloom has had a few chances but has a solid profile that should see him involved once again, though the selection is EBTKAAR, whose trainer does not waste many trips north and who looks to have the potential to land this contest.