13:30 Newcastle

Friday 6 September 2019

All13:3014:0514:4015:1515:5016:2016:55

ESH Construction Ltd Handicap

Off time: 13:30 | Winning time: 2m 43.93s

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Selected odds by:

(9)

Crushed^t1³⁰⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 9-7| J: D C Costello| T: M Walford| OR: 64| C

66/1

Won here (7f) as a juvenile for William Haggas and also tasted success over hurdles for Alan King; well beaten on all three starts for this trainer and off the track for a period of 308 days; tongue-tie now applied.

Form: 103/700-

(2)

Croeso Cymraeg^h²³

Age: 5| Weight: 9-7| J: Raul Da Silva| T: H J Evans| OR: 64| D

9/4

Won three on the bounce on Polytrack/Fibresand (1m4f-1m5½f) earlier this year, and has held his form well since; caught close home by Lauberhorn Rocket at Kempton latest (1m4f); now 4lb higher; a first ever Newcastle runner for James Evans.

Form: 113532

(10)

Ad Libitum^p⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 9-6| J: B A Curtis| T: R Fell & S Murray| OR: 63| D

9/5

Without a win since July 2018 but offered more promise when finishing third to Home Before Dusk here (1m2f) last week; theoretically lurks on a competitive mark and shouldn't be troubled by the step back up in trip; contender.

Form: 773493

(7)

Chant³⁸

Age: 9| Weight: 9-5| J: R Ffrench| T: Mrs A Duffield| OR: 62| CD

25/1

Has dropped into selling company since returning to the track this summer; now 8lb lower than when scoring over C&D in August 2017, but whether he's anywhere remotely near capable of reproducing that level of form is surely questionable.

Form: 1/350-74

(11)

Accessor²²

Age: 4| Weight: 8-12| J: J Fanning| T: M Wigham| OR: 55

11/1

Leicester maiden winner (7f) for Richard Hannon in October 2017; found his way to this trainer (0-4) via Richard Fahey and Michael Dods; drops to a career low mark (55) after merely plugging on past beaten horses at Lingfield (1m5f) three weeks ago.

Form: 0-07085

(4)

Lyford^p1²⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 8-12| J: P J McDonald| T: A C Whillans| OR: 55

7/1

AW winner for Sylvester Kirk (1m5½f) who didn't cut the mustard over hurdles for Dan Skelton; cheekpieces added on second start for a bang-in-form trainer (also saddles Abouttimeyoutoldme); beaten a nose on sole Tapeta start (1m6f, Wolverhampton).

Form: 23214-4

(3)

Majestic Stone²⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 8-7| J: C Lee| T: Miss J A Camacho| OR: 48

4/1

Placed on three occasions at this track (1m2f) since August 2018, and was a gritty winner on turf at Carlisle (1m3f, soft) in May; broadly consistent at a low level, but is perhaps just a shade vulnerable over 1m4f at this stiff track.

Form: 314495

(8)

Smart Lass^p⁵⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 8-7| J: Jamie Gormley| T: I Jardine| OR: 45

40/1

Six-race maiden; has shown precious little worthwhile form (7f-1m3f) for John James Feane; kicks off for Iain Jardine on a basement mark; highly unlikely barring a complete transformation.

Form: 0900-00

(1)

Abouttimeyoutoldme⁴⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 8-7| J: Andrew Breslin⁽⁵⁾| T: A C Whillans| OR: 45

150/1

42,000gns yearling who proved to be a flop for Ralph Beckett (0-2) in 2016; no sign whatsoever of an upturn in fortunes since joining current connections (who also saddle Lyford); out of the handicap proper; holds little chance.

Form: 89/60

Non-Runners

(6)

Near Kettering⁸

Weight: 9-9| Age: 5

T: S England J: Cam Hardie

(5)

Bogardus²⁸

Weight: 8-9| Age: 8

T: L Bailey J: Phil Dennis

Forecasts

Ad Libitum (9/5), Croeso Cymraeg (9/4), Near Kettering (9/4), Majestic Stone (4/1), Lyford (7/1), Accessor (11/1), Bogardus (20/1), Chant (25/1), Smart Lass (40/1), Crushed (66/1), Abouttimeyoutoldme (150/1)

Husband and wife partnership Sam and Jonathan England have their horses in rude health, and that's perfectly illustrated by the top-weighted NEAR KETTERING who swiftly added a hurdles success (Sedgefield) to his earlier win on the level at Thirsk. Assuming that he handles the switch to the AW, he's expected to figure prominently in pursuit of a hat-trick from just a 4lb higher mark. Of the others, the handily weighted Ad Libitum merits consideration while the consistent Croeso Cymraeg rates as noteworthy as a first ever Newcastle runner for the Worcestershire-based trainer James Evans.