15:45 Ascot

Friday 4 October 2019

All14:0014:3515:1015:4516:2016:55

Canaccord Genuity Gordon Carter Handicap

Off time: 15:45 | Winning time: 3m 43.55s

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Selected odds by:

(10)

Platitude⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 10-6| J: Marco Ghiani⁽⁷⁾| T: Mrs A J Perrett| OR: 96

12/1

Refused to race at Salisbury, but productive either side of that misdemeanour; held no real chance with Withhold (at level weights) in the Listed Rose Bowl Stakes at Newmarket (2m, good) last week.

Form: 8-692R3

(6)

Quloob³¹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-0| J: Hector Crouch| T: G & J Moore| OR: 90| BF

16/1

Three-time winner (1m2f-1m4f) for Owen Burrows in 2017; appears to be back on an upward curve for Gary Moore - met trouble when finishing very strongly behind Gwafa and Horatio Star at Salisbury (1m6f, good to firm); real chance.

Form: 2/50-543

(3)

Altra Vita^p⁷⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 9-12| J: Ryan Tate| T: Sir Mark Prescott| OR: 88| DWS

25/1

Won six-races between June and September 2018 (1m4f-2m); is effective on any racing surface, but has generally struggled to have a say from an elevated handicap mark since; still 12lb higher than when hacking up on the AW at Newcastle.

Form: 1155-86

(4)

Alfredo^p,t²⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 9-12| J: T P Queally| T: S Durack| OR: 88| D

50/1

Rock-solid on the AW (5-8) but a different story on turf (0-8); was beaten just over 1L by Altra Vita at Ffos Las (2m, soft) last September and must surely reverse those placings on revised terms, yet the chances are that still won't be enough.

Form: 015-404

(7)

Nakeeta^h³¹

Age: 8| Weight: 9-11| J: R Havlin| T: Mrs L C Jewell| OR: 87

40/1

2017 Ebor winner for Iain Jardine who courageously flew the flag for Scotland in that year's Melbourne Cup (fifth); has completely lost the plot this season, failing to beat a single rival in two starts for Linda Jewell; no chance on that basis.

Form: 00-8706

(5)

Darksideoftarnside^v1⁵²

Age: 5| Weight: 9-6| J: Jim Crowley| T: Ian Williams| OR: 82

7/1

Exploited a fair mark when returning to the winner's enclosure at Ffos Las (1m6f, good to soft) in August; faces a sterner test here (2lb higher) in a better race; that said, he will relish soft ground and could improve for the fitting of a visor.

Form: 646-851

(1)

Laafy^v²⁷

Age: 3| Weight: 9-4| J: R L Moore| T: Sir Michael Stoute| OR: 89

2/1

Ploughed through the mud at Nottingham (1m6f, heavy) when beating Not So Sleepy by 2¾L, before finishing a respectable sixth of 12 in a deep Class 2 handicap at Haydock (1m6f, soft); should remain competitive from this mark (89).

Form: 124216

(9)

Battle Of Marathon¹³

Age: 7| Weight: 9-3| J: Laura Pearson⁽⁷⁾| T: J Ryan| OR: 79

14/1

Eased towards the finish when a decisive 5L winner at Musselburgh (1m6f, good to firm) on his penultimate start; close third on the west coast of Scotland at Ayr (1m5f, good) subsequently; Laura Pearson's 7lb claim serves to boost his chances.

Form: 524813

(2)

Platform Nineteen^p²⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: C Lee| T: M L W Bell| OR: 85| D

3/1

A revelation since upped in trip and introduced to handicapping (21111); forced to dig very deep at York (2m, good) last month, yet simply keeps on producing the goods over and over again; will handle these conditions; 6lb higher.

Form: 621111

(8)

Horatio Star^p³¹

Age: 4| Weight: 9-0| J: Tom Marquand| T: B J Meehan| OR: 76

20/1

Bath winner (1m6f, Class 5) who is demonstrably improving, and continues in a rich vein of form; no real excuses when beaten a neck by Gwafa at Salisbury (1m6f) last month - can the less fortunate third-placed horse Quloob turn the tables today?

Form: 466122

(11)

Landa Beach^p²⁸

Age: 3| Weight: 8-10| J: David Probert| T: A M Balding| OR: 81

6/1

Shock 50/1 debut winner of a 1m Newbury novice last October (good to soft); has looked to be a thorough stayer in the making when twice finishing runner-up this season at Newbury (1m4f, soft) and Haydock (1m6f, soft); is likely to have a say.

Form: 1-56522

Forecasts

Laafy (2/1), Platform Nineteen (3/1), Landa Beach (6/1), Darksideoftarnside (7/1), Platitude (12/1), Battle Of Marathon (14/1), Quloob (16/1), Horatio Star (20/1), Altra Vita (25/1), Nakeeta (40/1), Alfredo (50/1)

A very competitive stayers handicap in which it's possible to construct a reasoned argument for any number of horses. Some of the more obvious candidates include the winning machine Platform Nineteen, the heavy ground winner Laafy and the newly-visored Ffos Las scorer Darksideoftarnside. Meanwhile, Gary Moore's Quloob is strongly fancied to extract his revenge on his Salisbury nemesis Horatio Star, while Laura Pearson's 7lb claim is considered a boost to the chances of Battle Of Marathon. However, we nail our colours firmly to the mast of the improving stamina-laden three-year-old LANDA BEACH.