15:15 Exeter

Sunday 24 March 2019

All14:1014:4015:1515:4516:2016:5517:25

Follow ggcouk On Twitter Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 15:15 | Winning time: 4m 37.2s

Settings

Selected odds by:

Espoir De Teillee⁴⁸⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: J J Burke| T: T R George| OR: 135| D

7/1

£220,000 purchase in May 2016 and impressive in two hurdle wins the following year. Has presumably had problems since and now reappears for new yard after another long absence and market should guide as to what is expected.

Form: F61/1-

Sir Ivan^t⁸⁵

Age: 9| Weight: 11-11| J: S Bowen| T: H Fry| OR: 134| CD

20/1

Won a jumpers Bumper a year ago but out of sorts otherwise for quite a while. Normally seen over further and fences so not hard to look elsewhere.

Form: 3PP1F-P

Esprit De Somoza²⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 11-10| J: Lizzie Kelly⁽³⁾| T: Nick Williams| OR: 133| D

7/2

Returned to his juvenile form after a break when scoring at Taunton on latest. Showed good attitude that day and 5lb rise is fair.

Form: 20-6541

And The New^t²⁹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-9| J: Tom Cannon| T: J Farrelly| OR: 132

14/1

Needs to bounce back from a tame effort but the drop in trip will help as will the return to front-running tactics usually employed in the past.

Form: 13-0299

Champagne Champ¹⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 11-4| J: T J O'Brien| T: B R Millman| OR: 127

4/1

Suspicion that he has found 2m5f just too far over hurdles so this intermediate trip should help. Not yet exposed in this sphere and could be more to come.

Form: 312-64

Massini Man⁶²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-0| J: P J Brennan| T: T R George| OR: 123

25/1

Hereford winner in November. Something probably amiss when pulled up sharply on latest. Now handicapping and opening mark looks pretty high.

Form: 6-14P

Ebony Gale²²

Age: 5| Weight: 10-13| J: R Johnson| T: P Hobbs & J White| OR: 122

5/1

Consistent sort until below par effort at Newbury last time and now needs to bounce back though stable enjoying a good run of late.

Form: 1-FF129

Choix Des Armes²⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 10-13| J: H Cobden| T: P F Nicholls| OR: 122

10/1

Hacked up on heavy at Wincanton last April and looked set for a good season but excuses next two starts then would have needed recent Chepstow run after a long break. Capable of much better somewhere down the line and one for the short list.

Form: 6313-28

Silverhow²⁵

Age: 8| Weight: 10-12| J: Aidan Coleman| T: C L Tizzard| OR: 121

14/1

Struggling over fences this term and now tries hurdles for the first time in two years to try and recapture some spark.

Form: 31-0555

Trans Express^p³⁰

Age: 9| Weight: 10-10| J: Lucy Gardner⁽³⁾| T: Mrs S Gardner| OR: 119| CD

8/1

2m7f experiment didn't work last time and now back to optimum trip. Lots of course form to make him a player though this a harder task than often taken.

Form: 211334

Vards^h¹⁷

Age: 9| Weight: 10-7| J: Nick Scholfield| T: Jack Barber| OR: 116

12/1

Point-to-point winner but hasn't really built on promising debut over hurdles and needs to improve though likely to do so somewhere down the line.

Form: 21/2955

Non-Runners

Reelingintheyears³⁴⁹

Weight: 11-2| Age: 7

T: Miss E C Lavelle J: Non Runner

Forecasts

Esprit De Somoza (7/2), Champagne Champ (4/1), Ebony Gale (5/1), Espoir De Teillee (7/1), Trans Express (8/1), Reelingintheyears (8/1), Choix Des Armes (10/1), Vards (12/1), And The New (14/1), Silverhow (14/1), Sir Ivan (20/1), Massini Man (25/1)

No surprise if CHOIX DES ARMES leaves his Chepstow comeback behind him and he may be worth siding with in an open contest. Recent Taunton scorer Esprit De Somoza is the alternative with Champagne Champ likely to have more to come over hurdles.