Persimmon Homes Novices' Hurdle

Off time: 14:55 | Winning time: 4m 25.0s

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Selected odds by:

Budarri¹¹⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Sam Coltherd⁽⁵⁾| T: W Coltherd

14/1

Little to enthuse about overall despite finishing 23L third to Golden Jeffrey on hurdles debut at Perth in September (2m heavy). Modest on the Flat, and has shown signs of temperament (stalls).

Form: 90-3

Cool Mix³⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: B S Hughes| T: I Jardine| BF

8/15

Deserves to break the maiden tag, having shown a decent level of form in all three starts over hurdles. Not done anything wrong other than bump into stronger rivals including Some Reign, Treshnish and McGowan's Pass. The standout form horse.

Form: 62-322

Drums Of War³⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: Callum Bewley⁽³⁾| T: C Grant

10/1

Has bits and pieces of placed form in bumpers, and improved upon his hurdles debut effort when a runner up at Musselburgh latest (2m3f good), but doesn't look strong enough overall.

Form: 34-3762

Ivors Involvement¹¹⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: A Nicol| T: Miss T Jackson

66/1

48-rated on the Flat, and has never managed to win beyond 1m2f. Required the application of cheek-pieces in order to break a two-year losing run at Beverley in September, and wouldn't make obvious appeal on his hurdling debut.

Form:

Johnny Pedlar^h1⁴⁹⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 11-4| J: Jamie Hamilton⁽³⁾| T: A M Thomson

33/1

Didn't have the pre-requisite speed for a Perth bumper in September 2016, finishing a distant last of eight to War Creation. Off since, and makes his hurdles debut wearing a hood.

Form: 8-

Le Gavroche²³

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Craig Nichol| T: R Dobbin

33/1

Flemensfirth gelding who cost €39,000 as a three-year-old, but was outpaced at halfway on his hurdles debut on bottomless ground at Ayr earlier in the month (2m), and might well need a much stiffer test than 2m to be seen to his best.

Form: 66

Mighty Thunder^t⁵⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: D R Fox| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell| D

10/1

Winner on debut at Perth (bumper) in June, showing a good attitude, and far from disgraced when tried in a better race at Cheltenham in October. Not so good on his hurdles debut at Musselburgh in November, and needs to raise his game.

Form: 169

Off The Hook²³

Age: 6| Weight: 10-11| J: Lucy Alexander| T: N W Alexander| OR: 101

4/1

Improved steadily since switched to hurdling, and produced a career best effort when beaten 4½L by the 'steering job' Better Getalong at Ayr earlier this month (2m heavy). No ground concerns and a clearly entitled to make the frame.

Form: 7064-2

Forecasts

Cool Mix (8/15), Off The Hook (4/1), Mighty Thunder (10/1), Drums Of War (10/1), Budarri (14/1), Johnny Pedlar (33/1), Le Gavroche (33/1), Ivors Involvement (66/1)

Northumberland based owner Dave Armstrong must have high hopes of a successful Borders raid with COOL MIX. This six-year-old Fair Mix gelding ran well in a bumper at Ayr in April, and has progressed since over hurdles; only denied victory by slightly stronger progressive rivals Some Reign (Kelso), Treshnish (Newcastle) and McGowan's Pass (Ayr). He is the standout form horse in a very winnable contest, and a reproduction of any of those three efforts will be more than good enough here. Mighty Thunder and Off The Hook are likely to be competitive for the minor placings.