George Higgins 60th Birthday Celebration Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 15:10 | Winning time: 5m 13.9s

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Selected odds by:

Helmsley Lad³⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: B S Hughes| T: J M Jefferson| OR: 117

7/2

Won a Sedgefield bumper in December (2m1f, good to soft) and goes well on good ground. Dropped 1lb going into this after being well held on his reappearance back at that venue last time and this looks tough enough under top weight.

Form: 21324-5

Forty Crown¹⁷

Age: 11| Weight: 11-10| J: Jonathon Bewley⁽³⁾| T: G Bewley| OR: 115| C| D

11/1

Has won three times here over 2m6½f and in all cases the ground has been slower than forecast. Remains 2lb higher than the most recent of those in February but has had a number of chances from this sort of mark without success.

Form: 24137-4

Cape Of Glory^v⁷²

Age: 4| Weight: 11-10| J: Callum Bewley⁽³⁾| T: K Dalgleish| OR: 115

9/4

Won at Musselburgh (1m7½f, good) this time last year and his best effort since came last time out at Sedgefield (2m4f, good) when a 3L second. Raised 5lb for that, so is going to need some improvement to figure as prominently again.

Form: 13-62

Prince Khurram^p,t³⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 11-10| J: W T Kennedy| T: D McCain Jnr| OR: 115

5/1

Ran up a hat-trick on good/fast ground in the summer at up to 2m3½f. Has run well from higher marks here on his last two starts and a 1lb drop going into this gives him claims, especially now back up in trip.

Form: 211135

Green Zone¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-5| J: Ross Chapman⁽⁵⁾| T: Miss L Harrison| OR: 110

20/1

Seems to reserve his best for Perth, but trip and ground suit going into this. 5lb higher than his latest win and the handicapper has very much been in control since, so while he should get closer here, others make more appeal.

Form: 11470P

Benny's Secret^h³⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 10-13| J: Grant Cockburn⁽³⁾| T: N W Alexander| OR: 104| CD

9/2

Hit-or-miss in the past year or so, but is competitive when he completes and he did that here last time when winning over C&D (good). Up 7lb for that and didn't have much to spare, so will need improvement to follow-up.

Form: 0P3P-P1

Sierra Oscar³⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 10-9| J: Sean Quinlan| T: Mrs J C McGregor| OR: 100| D

10/1

Sole success to date was over a similar trip (good) at Huntingdon in April from just 2lb lower. Was not too far short of that level here over 2m last time but may not quite have the class of some of these.

Form: 81-42F6

Non-Runners

Craig Star¹⁴

Weight: 11-8| Age: 7

T: D McCain Jnr J: Theo Gillard

Forecasts

Cape Of Glory (9/4), Helmsley Lad (7/2), Benny's Secret (9/2), Prince Khurram (5/1), Craig Star (5/1), Sierra Oscar (10/1), Forty Crown (11/1), Green Zone (20/1)

Another competitive event where PRINCE KHURRAM is suggested. Donald McCain's charge remains in good form and might be able to eek out the necessary now back up in trip. Helmsley Lad has a tough task but a place in the prizes is not ruled out, while Cape Of Glory is a potential danger along with both Craig Star and Benny's Secret.