Lodge At Perth Racecourse Novices' Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 17:10 | Winning time: 5m 4.65s

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Selected odds by:

Lord Napier¹⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-13| J: James Bowen⁽³⁾| T: P & M Bowen| OR: 121| BF| D

4/1

The handicapper took no chances with an opening mark of 123 following a pair of victories at Ludlow (2m maiden) and Sedgefield (2m4f novices). Needs to bounce back from a disappointing Exeter effort.

Form: 5116

Loud And Clear^h1,t1¹⁹⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: Ross Chapman⁽³⁾| T: I Jardine| OR: 120| BF

9/2

A decent sort in bumpers (Worcester and Ayr winner). Beaten just under 4L in a C&D maiden hurdle on his second start over obstacles in July 2017 (good). Wears a first time hood and tongue tie.

Form: 1310-32

Henry's Joy³⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 11-11| J: B S Hughes| T: D McCain Jnr| OR: 119| D

7/2

Keen sort, but getting the hang of things over hurdles and produced a career best effort despite losing a shoe when scoring at Sedgefield last month (2m4f soft). Raised 6lb.

Form: 2-24251

Mighty Thunder^t³⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: Blair Campbell⁽⁵⁾| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell| OR: 108| C

7/2

Winner here on debut (bumper) in June 2017, showing a good attitude, and far from disgraced when tried in a better race at Cheltenham in October. Not set the bar overly high over hurdles so far, but those efforts look better with hindsight.

Form: 169358

Craiganboy^h,t¹⁹

Age: 9| Weight: 10-10| J: Grant Cockburn⁽³⁾| T: N W Alexander| OR: 104

40/1

His sole career success came over fences at Ayr in February 2017 (2m2f heavy), and he's had a largely disappointing campaign overall. Not seen a great deal of recent hurdles action, but rates as an unlikely winner.

Form: 514-45P

Reivers Lodge^h,t¹⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 10-8| J: Finian O'Toole⁽³⁾| T: S Corbett| OR: 102

6/1

Stays well as demonstrated when scoring at Kelso in October 2017 (2m6f good); beating the massively progressive Chapel Stile by ¾L. Still 5lb above that winning mark, but slowly heading back the right way down the handicap which looks helpful.

Form: 135405

Royal Mandate^p⁵⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 10-3| J: C O'Farrell| T: R Menzies| OR: 97

13/2

Lightly raced, but still to break his duck for this trainer (ex Dan Skelton). Promises to find a race or two in handicap company over this trip once the ground begins to dry up.

Form: 348356

Non-Runners

An Fear Ciuin¹⁸⁰

Weight: 11-0| Age: 7

T: R M Smith J: Dale Irving

Forecasts

Mighty Thunder (7/2), Henry's Joy (7/2), Lord Napier (4/1), Loud And Clear (9/2), Reivers Lodge (6/1), Royal Mandate (13/2), An Fear Ciuin (20/1), Craiganboy (40/1)

Not a race in which a strong opinion prevails with the top-weight Lord Napier vulnerable from his current mark. Both Mighty Thunder and Royal Mandate appear capable of better over hurdles than they've shown so far and could step out of the background eventually, whilst recent Sedgefield scorer Henry's Joy should continue to progress. However, we'll take a swipe at the mare REIVERS LODGE. She stays very well and is belatedly being cut some slack by the assessor following her October Kelso victory. Otterburn handler Susan Corbett likes a Perth winner (5 from 44; 11%) and she can feasibly add to that tally here.