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Off time: 15:30 | Winning time: 3m 40.1s

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Selected odds by:

Lord Fendale^v¹³

Age: 9| Weight: 11-12| J: David Noonan| T: Tim Vaughan| OR: 98| D

2/1

Knocking at the door with regularity since mid-summer, but that hasn't gone unnoticed by the assessor either; 3lb higher than when beaten a head by Mauricio at Southwell (2m, good) last month.

Form: 9-52232

Biennial¹⁵⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 11-9| J: D R Fox| T: I A Duncan| OR: 95

22/1

0-6 over hurdles; wore a tongue-tie when pulled up on handicap debut at Hexham (2m4f) in June; off since and eased 7lb in the weights.

Form: P385-4P

Vino's Choice^h,t⁴²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-7| J: Blair Campbell⁽⁵⁾| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell| OR: 93| D

10/3

Showed more battle when placed over fences at Perth (2m, good) in September, and is now 17lb lower in the weights than when making his handicap (hurdle) debut over C&D in February.

Form: 40-5473

Jackhammer^h,t³⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 11-6| J: B S Hughes| T: Mrs Dianne Sayer| OR: 92

12/1

Rated in the low 50's on the Flat (runner up over 7f at Catterick last month); not shown any real aptitude for hurdling so far (0-3), but is worthy of market inspection on handicap debut in a weak affair.

Form: 8-90

Hey Bob^t⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 10-3| J: Callum Bewley| T: C Grant| OR: 75| BF| D

5/2

Beaten 7L by the progressive Iolani at Sedgefield (2m1f) on his penultimate start, but a career record of 1-45 isn't the most inspiring; capable on a going day, but not always reliable.

Form: 8B3927

Rioja Day^p⁶

Age: 8| Weight: 10-0| J: Danny McMenamin⁽⁷⁾| T: J S Goldie| OR: 68

15/2

18-race hurdles maiden; best over 7f-1m on the Flat, so that helps to explain his continued struggles over timber; can't be the solution despite the obvious paucity of talented opposition in this contest.

Form: 46U55/7

Forecasts

Lord Fendale (2/1), Hey Bob (5/2), Vino's Choice (10/3), Rioja Day (15/2), Jackhammer (12/1), Biennial (22/1)

The Tim Vaughan-trained LORD FENDALE is without doubt the most consistent of these horses, albeit that hasn't gone entirely unnoticed by the assessor which to all intents and purposes would usually make him vulnerable. However, this looks to be a desperately weak affair, so unless the handicap debutante Jackhammer is well supported in the market exchanges, or the handicapper has made an error (possible) with the returned to hurdles Vino's Choice, the top-weight is the token advice in an uninspiring contest.