George Harrow Memorial Novices' Hurdle

Off time: 12:10 | Winning time: 6m 15.1s

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Selected odds by:

Darius Des Sources²¹⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: Sean Quinlan| T: C Grant

12/1

Scored by 5L when scoring on his second Irish point-to-point start (pulled up on debut in that sphere). Sold for £38,000 soon after he made a pleasing introduction in an Ayr bumper (well supported); hurdles debut over a trip that should suit.

Form: P16-

Duc De Grissay⁶⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: Rachel McDonald⁽⁵⁾| T: A M Thomson

7/1

Modest form in Irish point-to-points; started 40-1 but gave some encouragement and offered something to work on when third on his novice hurdle debut (Hexham, 2m). Will be more at home over this trip, may do better in time.

Form: P4P2/3

Get Help¹⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: Sam Coltherd⁽³⁾| T: W Coltherd| OR: 119

9/5

Form in point-to-points was poor (pulled up four times) but he's shown some improvement under Rules of late finishing second over slightly shorter (handicap debut) last time. Reverts to novice company given a further test of stamina; shortlisted.

Form: P442-32

Rollerruler^t²²⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: Ross Chapman| T: M A Barnes| OR: 106

16/1

Form over hurdles has been modest enough and there was no progress which might have been expected when given his handicap debut. Has been saddled with a rather stiff mark though on what he's achieved; faces another tough test back in novices'.

Form: P3453P-

Sidi Ismael²¹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: Craig Nichol| T: K Dalgleish

10/3

Spurned a chance to open his account last month having run very promisingly here on hurdles debut over slightly shorter last month at Stratford (clearly not 100% on the day). Given a chance on his earlier form if he can find he spark to return to it.

Form: 2431-27

Uncle Jonty⁹¹⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 10-12| J: R D Day| T: N G Richards

10/1

Won his sole point-to-point at Aspatria (May 2017) narrowly when 2-1 favourite and now makes his Rules debut over hurdles. Dam, unraced, half-sister to smart hurdler/chaser (stayed 3m) Spendid; well worth noting any positive market moves.

Form: 1/

Vamanos^p1²³¹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: David England| T: O Murphy| OR: 115| BF

11/2

Plenty of placed form over hurdles last year in novice company; strong in the betting when switched to handicaps when last seen (let down by a poor round of jumping). Should win a race such as this as long as he can jump with more élan on his return.

Form: 7/4334-

Forecasts

Get Help (9/5), Sidi Ismael (10/3), Vamanos (11/2), Duc De Grissay (7/1), Uncle Jonty (10/1), Darius Des Sources (12/1), Rollerruler (16/1)

The pick of these on last season’s form would be Vamanos and with the cheekpieces on for the first-time he may jump with more fluency than he did when he was last seen but that facet of his game remains a doubt. Similarly Sidi Ismael has to bounce back from a poor run last time although it should be noted that his best run did come here and he will handle these conditions. GET HELP reverts to novice grade on the back of a very sound run in a handicap here (he’s also run well at this venue before) that should be enough to see him go close. Darius Des Sources and Uncle Jonty represent some good point-to-point form and a market move for either/both should be noted.