19:30 Newcastle

Wednesday 3 October 2018

All17:3018:0018:3019:0019:3020:0020:30

Digital Catapult Handicap (Div 1)

Off time: 19:33 | Winning time: 1m 13.88s

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Selected odds by:

(4)

Lucky Lodge^v⁹

Age: 8| Weight: 9-9| J: Cam Hardie| T: A Brittain| OR: 61| CD

9/1

1lb lower than when winning at Wolverhampton (7f) in May, but equally effective at this stiffer track over 6f (AW and turf C&D scorer); stable among the winners here on Friday evening.

Form: 135455

(2)

Cliff¹³

Age: 8| Weight: 9-7| J: Faye McManoman⁽⁷⁾| T: N Tinkler| OR: 59| D

8/1

Once so very difficult to win with has proved to be a character reborn over the past couple of seasons; 5lb higher than when winning at Thirsk in August (6f, soft) and although effective on the AW, that's probably just too much.

Form: 761256

(1)

Captain Bob^p¹⁰⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 9-6| J: A Mullen| T: P A Kirby| OR: 58| D

25/1

Winner of a 6f Class 5 handicap at Southwell in April, breaking his AW duck at the 15th attempt; has raced over further since (off since June), with little doubt that 6f is his optimum trip.

Form: 744160

(14)

Jessie Allan¹⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 9-6| J: Jamie Gormley⁽³⁾| T: J S Goldie| OR: 58| D

11/1

Took an eternity to break her duck on turf, but is a grand little mare who really does try hard; 0-19 on the AW, but no concerns with regards track or trip (has plenty of placed Newcastle form in the book); others preferred tonight.

Form: 178356

(10)

Sir Domino⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 9-4| J: D Tudhope| T: L A Mullaney| OR: 56| D

7/1

Six-race AW maiden, yet still rated 9lb higher than on turf; close up third to Rockley Point at Hamilton (6f, soft) just nine days ago.

Form: 047923

(11)

Wide Acclaim^t¹¹

Age: 3| Weight: 9-2| J: B A Curtis| T: R Menzies| OR: 55

28/1

Returned from a break (modest effort) sporting a newly applied tongue-tie at Catterick (7f, good) recently, so doesn't appear to be headed in an obviously positive direction; handicap mark easing; dropped back in trip.

Form: 655980

(7)

Eternal Destiny¹¹

Age: 3| Weight: 8-13| J: William Carson| T: Rae Guest| OR: 52

5/1

Five-race maiden; shown definite improvement since introduced to handicapping, including when a staying on 2L third to the subsequent dual winner La Fortuna at Chelmsford (6f) latest; major player off an identical mark at this stiffer track.

Form: 65543

(3)

Mitchum⁷

Age: 9| Weight: 8-12| J: D Allan| T: R E Barr| OR: 50| D

25/1

Old-timer; winner of seven of his 73 career starts; soon pushed along and never better than midfield on return to turf at Redcar (6f, good) last week after a fair fifth of 14 to Sienna Says over C&D previously.

Form: 865950

(12)

Viking Way^b³²

Age: 3| Weight: 8-9| J: G Lee| T: Olly Williams| OR: 48

9/1

Ten-race maiden who continues to slide in the weights; shown marginal improvement for the application of blinkers, and has proved effective enough at this track in the past (7f), but others are far more convincing.

Form: 400043

(6)

Billyfairplay²⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 8-8| J: L Morris| T: J Feane| OR: 46

9/4

13-race maiden; has some respectable AW form (Dundalk) for previous handler W J Martin, and wasn't beaten far when finishing third to Baby Power at Naas (5½f, good) last month; noteworthy with Luke Morris booked.

Form: 06-4593

(5)

Red Forever^h³⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 8-8| J: Rachel Richardson| T: Helen Cuthbert| OR: 45

150/1

Hasn't beaten too many rivals in four previous AW starts (untested since January 2016), and has won just once in 53 starts overall; difficult to consider.

Form: 755909

(9)

Henrietta's Dream^b⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 8-8| J: S A Gray| T: J S Wainwright| OR: 45

50/1

24-race maiden who offers very little in the way of positives. However, she showed up well for a significant part of the race here on Friday evening (100/1) when finishing just over 3L fourth of nine to Crash Helmet (6f, novice).

Form: 860704

(13)

Eyes of Fire⁴⁷

Age: 3| Weight: 8-7| J: P Aspell| T: J R Norton| OR: 45

150/1

16-race maiden, with the bulk of those runs (11) coming on the AW; well held fifth of ten (50/1) at Wolverhampton in August; holds little realistic chance.

Form: 866905

Non-Runners

(8)

Indian Warrior²³

Weight: 9-7| Age: 3

T: Mrs R Carr J: J P Sullivan

Forecasts

Billyfairplay (9/4), Eternal Destiny (5/1), Sir Domino (7/1), Cliff (8/1), Lucky Lodge (9/1), Viking Way (9/1), Jessie Allan (11/1), Indian Warrior (16/1), Mitchum (25/1), Captain Bob (25/1), Wide Acclaim (28/1), Henrietta's Dream (50/1), Red Forever (150/1), Eyes of Fire (150/1)

Not too many worth considering in the first division of a low grade 6f handicap. The Irish maiden Billyfairplay is an interesting runner with AW champion Luke Morris in the saddle. He is proven on an artificial surface (at Dundalk), and was a fair third on turf at Naas latest. The top-weight Lucky Lodge is another for the shortlist with trainer Antony Brittain among the winners here on Friday evening, but the rather confident vote is for the lightly-raced three-year-old ETERNAL DESTINY. She has improved since switched to handicapping, and her most recent Chelmsford conqueror La Fortuna has franked that form by winning twice since.