Hexham Racecourse Caravan Site Novices' Hurdle

Off time: 16:12 | Winning time: 4m 13.75s

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Selected odds by:

Druid's Diamond^h²⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: Jamie Hamilton⁽³⁾| T: M Walford| BF

20/1

Unraced over jumps, but an eleven race maiden on the Flat (53 rated). Effectively was a winner at Beverley in July (disqualified), but largely untested beyond 1m2f, or on the type ground that he's likely to encounter here.

Form:

Rapid Fritz⁹

Age: 8| Weight: 10-12| J: Miss C Walton⁽³⁾| T: V Thompson| OR: 95

40/1

17 race maiden who was pulled up before the last after weakening quickly on stable debut over C&D (handicap hurdle) last week.

Form: 6-3280P

Riverside Bridge⁶⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: C R King| T: B Ellison| OR: 82

28/1

Five race maiden in Ireland (for a couple of trainers), but moved on again since being pulled up in a handicap hurdle at Wexford in July (2m good).

Form: F070-P

Rossamilan¹⁷³

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: D R Fox| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell

9/1

Milan gelding who was off the mark at the sixth attempt in Point-to-Points at Portrush in March (3m maiden good). Moved on for £18,000 at Doncaster in May and should have the attributes for the forecast ground conditions.

Form: 3F4421-

Silva Eclipse⁴⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 10-12| J: Joe Colliver| T: Jedd O'Keeffe| D

9/4

Hurdles debutant, but a three time winner on the Flat earning a mark of 76 in that sphere. Versatile in terms of trip and ground and his dam (Linen Line) was a half-sister to winning jumpers Smuglin and Rattlin.

Form:

Sophie Olivia⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: Henry Brooke| T: M Todhunter| OR: 110| CD

11/10

Built upon a couple of fair Musselburgh efforts when poaching an early lead and never headed to score by 17L over C&D last week (good to soft). Penalised and this race is possibly stronger, but no faulting her hurdling technique whatsoever.

Form: 34632-1

Reivers Lodge^h,t⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-5| J: James Corbett⁽⁷⁾| T: S Corbett| OR: 95

17/2

Eight race maiden who has twice finished runner up in similar events over C&D, but proved no match for Sophie Olivia last week (beaten 17L), and very tough to envisage those placings being reversed.

Form: 205P52

Forecasts

Sophie Olivia (11/10), Silva Eclipse (9/4), Reivers Lodge (17/2), Rossamilan (9/1), Druid's Diamond (20/1), Riverside Bridge (28/1), Rapid Fritz (40/1)

SOPHIE OLIVIA likes to race prominently, but the jockeys in the line up this afternoon are likely to be much wiser to her probable tactics than was the case when she bolted up over C&D last week. Furthermore, she has a much more testing surface to tackle and a 7lb penalty to carry, but having already shown that she stays further than this 2m trip at Musselburgh, she appears to be a fairly solid selection. Of the others, Silva Eclipse looks capable of making a mark at this level, whilst Rossamilan is an interesting new recruit for Lucinda Russell.