17:35 Taunton

Thursday 4 April 2019

All14:0514:4015:1015:5016:2517:0017:35

Evening Meeting Wednesday 24th April Maiden Open NH Flat Race

Off time: 17:35 | Winning time: 4m 2.1s

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Selected odds by:

Avoid De Master⁸⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 10-13| J: David Bass| T: David Dennis

20/1

Cost £75,000 at the Doncaster sales in January after he won a point-to-point in Mainstown, Ireland; that was a much improved effort and underlines that the gelding has a bit of potential. Worth a betting check here.

Form: P-U31

Starsky^t¹³³

Age: 5| Weight: 10-13| J: Lorcan Williams⁽⁵⁾| T: P F Nicholls

7/1

Second of four on debut - the winner went on to a further success in a bumper at Doncaster last month - but did little wrong in defeat. He's bred to cope with a sterner test of stamina but showed enough speed on debut to merit consideration here.

Form: 2

Capac

Age: 4| Weight: 10-7| J: Alan Johns| T: T Lacey

4/5

A half-brother to the mighty Brave Inca and useful hurdler Yurok; appeals on pedigree and the yard have been amongst the winners with two of their last ten runners boosting the profile. Worth a betting check.

Form:

Richardson

Age: 4| Weight: 10-7| J: L Heard| T: J Groucott

100/1

Winners in his pedigree (including Giveway, who won on the Flat at 1m-1m2f and 2m when successful over hurdles); yard quiet though and is likely to be better for the experience.

Form:

Thesaurus

Age: 4| Weight: 10-7| J: J E Moore| T: M Meade

3/1

Unraced son of Sea The Stars, the gelding cost 80,000 gns as a yearling and is related to a several winners on the Flat. Interesting recruit for this level but hard to assess with no racing experience. Solid jockey booking. Worth a betting check.

Form:

Fu Fu²⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 10-6| J: James Best| T: R Walford

66/1

Bred to be effective over jumps but already needs a trip judging by the evidence of how he was outpaced 4f out on his debut run over C&D last month. Others make more appeal.

Form: 8

Bergamot^t¹³⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 10-0| J: William Marshall⁽⁷⁾| T: D Skelton

8/1

Been done for toe twice already but wasn't beaten far latest and must be considered a player in this company with that experience of a battle now behind him. Leading contender here.

Form: 53

Fourshoes⁴¹

Age: 4| Weight: 10-0| J: Brendan Powell| T: A King

22/1

Has a bumper winner in her pedigree but let favourite backers down when she failed to reel in a ready winner on her debut at Wetherby; well held subsequently at Warwick and hung right in the closing stages. Improvement needed.

Form: 26

Mizz Moondance

Age: 4| Weight: 10-0| J: Sean Houlihan⁽³⁾| T: R H Buckler

20/1

Out of Mizzurka, winner of a mares only Listed bumper at Sandown in her second season, and related to a good number of winners over jumps. Bred for a trip and given that her yard is struggling for winner just now, she's probably best watched here.

Form:

Forecasts

Capac (4/5), Thesaurus (3/1), Starsky (7/1), Bergamot (8/1), Avoid De Master (20/1), Mizz Moondance (20/1), Fourshoes (22/1), Fu Fu (66/1), Richardson (100/1)

STARSKY was second to a horse that has already franked the form of his debut runand thus gets the nod as the one to be on in the finale. Avoid De Master was an expensive purchase at the Doncaster sales and, as he has point-to-point experience, he too merits a betting check. Bergamot can also make this a good test, while Thesaurus is a well-bred individual who could be a further contender to play a part if he's inherited speed form his sire.