15:50 Ripon

Thursday 6 June 2019

All14:2014:5015:2015:5016:2016:5017:20

Weatherbys TBA Handicap

Off time: 15:52 | Winning time: 2m 3.68s

Settings

Selected odds by:

(1)

Waarif¹⁰^{(ex 5)}

Age: 6| Weight: 9-11| J: C J McGovern⁽³⁾| T: D O'Meara| OR: 92| C| D

4/1

Beat Mikmak by a neck when winning over 1m here (good) last summer; competes under a 5lb penalty (due only a 4lb rise) after scoring on quick ground at Windsor (1m2f) ten days ago; riders 3lb claim helpful; trainer doubly represented.

Form: 9-07691

(10)

Fayez¹⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 9-7| J: S A Gray| T: D O'Meara| OR: 93| C| D

13/2

Stablemate of Waarif; no match for the promising New Graduate over 1m here on his penultimate start (form is very strong), but found the winning groove again over 1m1f here latest (Class 2) when beating Fennaan by 3L; 6lb higher; player.

Form: 541931

(2)

Mr Top Hat²⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 9-4| J: K Shoemark| T: P D Evans| OR: 90| D

5/1

Back to winning ways for the first time since October 2017 when springing a 16/1 shock on the Roodeye at Chester (1m2f, soft); 4lb higher, although the recent rain is considered as a major boost to his chances of following up.

Form: 432551

(9)

Stealth Fighter²²

Age: 4| Weight: 9-4| J: William Cox⁽³⁾| T: S bin Suroor| OR: 90| D

13/2

Clobbered by the assessor (raised 11lb) after winning a run of the mill Class 4 handicap at Yarmouth (1m2f, good to firm) in April, hence the deployment of 3lb claimer William Cox in the saddle; plenty of work on against better rivals.

Form: 125-410

(6)

Just Hiss^p¹⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 9-3| J: Ben Robinson⁽³⁾| T: T D Easterby| OR: 89

10/1

Yet to win over this trip, with his last two victories coming over 1m on the Knavesmire at York; plenty of work to do with Fayez on the basis of recent Class 2 course form; stablemate of Garden Oasis.

Form: 3513-36

(7)

Universal Gleam¹⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 9-3| J: R Winston| T: K Dalgleish| OR: 89

5/1

Sir Percy gelding who is a new man for wind surgery/gelding; unbeaten in two starts so far in 2019, with both of those front-running wins coming at or around 1m on quick ground; 4lb higher here.

Form: 1236-11

(3)

King's Pavilion³³

Age: 6| Weight: 9-2| J: Connor Murtagh⁽⁵⁾| T: J Ward| OR: 88| C

16/1

A five-time winner (mainly on ground described as on the easy side of good); historically has shown a liking for Ripon (133), albeit disappointed when finishing last of ten to Epaulment in the Silver Bowl over C&D (good) in April.

Form: 524-808

(8)

Garden Oasis⁴⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 8-10| J: A Elliott| T: T D Easterby| OR: 82| D

12/1

Stablemate of Just Hiss (joined from Sir Michael Stoute for 10,000gns last October); still low-mileage in terms of handicapping and a fair fifth to New Graduate on recent course (1m) stable debut - second, third (Fayez) and fourth all winners since.

Form: 64/412-5

(11)

Cockalorum²²⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 8-7| J: P Hanagan| T: R Fell & S Murray| OR: 79

6/1

Sold for €65,000 in November 2018, one month after winning a 22-runner Leopardstown maiden (1m1f, good to yielding) for Michael Halford; allocated an opening handicap mark of 79; market helpful in assessing his chances on debut for Roger Fell.

Form: 2441-

(4)

Qawamees²²

Age: 4| Weight: 8-4| J: K T O'Neill| T: M & D Easterby| OR: 76

33/1

11-race maiden (once with Ed Dunlop); has been tried over hurdles earlier in the year by new connections; 16th of 17 on Flat debut for Mick Easterby at York (50/1) last month; not considered likely.

Form: 22428-0

Non-Runners

(5)

Empress Ali²⁸

Weight: 8-13| Age: 8

T: T P Tate J: A Mullen

Forecasts

Waarif (4/1), Mr Top Hat (5/1), Universal Gleam (5/1), Cockalorum (6/1), Fayez (13/2), Stealth Fighter (13/2), Just Hiss (10/1), Garden Oasis (12/1), King's Pavilion (16/1), Empress Ali (20/1), Qawamees (33/1)

A cracking race with no fewer than five last time out winners due to stand their ground including the David O'Meara trained duo Waarif and FAYEZ. The latter must defy a 6lb rise in the weights in order to notch an eighth career win but there's no denying that his recent course form has a rock-solid feel (especially his third placed finish behind the Royal Ascot bound New Graduate). Applying that school of thought also brings the lightly-raced 4yo Garden Oasis fully into the reckoning for his new handler Tim Easterby, while it would also be foolish to dismiss the thriving Universal Gleam purely on account of the softer conditions as he seeks a hat-trick.