13:30 Southwell

Thursday 19 December 2019

All13:3014:0014:3015:0015:3016:0016:30

Betway Handicap

Off time: 13:31 | Winning time: 1m 0.22s

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(1)

Hey Ho Let's Go⁴⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 9-7| J: R Havlin| T: M R Hoad| OR: 59

13/2

Maiden (0-10); rider dropped her whip when this colt finished ¾L second to Catapult (Decision Maker third) over C&D last month; has since left Clive Cox to join Mark Hoad.

Form: 025672

(11)

The Grey Zebedee^b¹³

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: D Fentiman| T: T D Easterby| OR: 57| D

14/1

Short-headed by Swiss Connection at Newcastle (5f) in October but his form has dipped race-by-race since; vaguely interesting to see how he fares on this Fibresand surface (debut) but difficult to be wildly enthusiastic either.

Form: 382400

(10)

Decision Maker^p1²⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 9-4| J: Lewis Edmunds| T: S R Bowring| OR: 56| D

8/1

Made the frame behind today's rival Hey Ho Let's Go over C&D last month, and also finished third to Mininggold in this contest 12 months ago; sits on a reasonably workable mark assuming that the cheekpieces can elicit extra improvement.

Form: 137039

(7)

Espirit D'Escalier²⁰²

Age: 3| Weight: 9-3| J: Dylan Hogan⁽⁵⁾| T: J F Levins| OR: 55

25/1

Maiden (0-7); crosses the Irish Sea for her first experience of racing on Fibresand (dam Patience Alexander was a Wolverhampton Polytrack winner); her best form came when beaten 3L by Miss Jabeam in a 5f Dundalk maiden last November.

Form: 6403-58

(9)

Mable Lee¹³

Age: 4| Weight: 9-2| J: G Lee| T: B Smart| OR: 54| D

33/1

Runner-up at Newcastle (5f) last December; has shown little in the way of positive form since leaving the care of Iain Jardine for £5,000 (in August); far safer to look elsewhere.

Form: 426-009

(2)

Eesha Says¹⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 9-1| J: Elisha Whittington⁽⁷⁾| T: A W Carroll| OR: 53| CD

3/1

Made all when springing a 66-1 surprise (Blackcurrent second) in a classified stakes over C&D in September; finished 2½L third to Amazing Amaya (Arzaak fourth) on handicap debut here subsequently.

Form: 949/13

(4)

Classic Pursuit^v¹⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 9-0| J: S H James| T: Mrs Marjorie Fife| OR: 52| CD

20/1

Very well handicapped on peak form (11-97 career) but has struggled for a number of months now, and has a mountain to climb with the likes of Amazing Amaya, Eesha Says and Arzaak on more recent C&D form.

Form: 907980

(13)

Blackcurrent⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: L Morris| T: A D Brown| OR: 52

8/1

Runner-up on both previous C&D starts, including when beaten 1¼L by Eesha Says in a classified stakes contest in September; fairly weighted from his current mark (52) and likely to be in there pitching from the start.

Form: 0-20623

(5)

Little Miss Muffin^p¹⁰

Age: 3| Weight: 8-12| J: Jane Elliott| T: S England| OR: 50

100/1

Maiden (0-7); 40-1 and always in the rear throughout (12th of 14) behind the Newcastle specialist Rockley Point in a 5f classified stakes ten days ago.

Form: 358900

(3)

Amazing Amaya^h¹⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 8-12| J: Cam Hardie| T: D Shaw| OR: 50| CD

10/3

Returned fresh to break her duck at the 14th attempt (50-1) when rattling home late to nail Loulin on the line (Eesha Says third, Arzaak fourth) over C&D a fortnight ago; has a fair 4lb rise in the weights to overcome.

Form: 4-03651

(6)

Canimar^v⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 8-7| J: Josephine Gordon| T: S L Keightley| OR: 45

25/1

22-race maiden (0-16 on the AW); her 'best' form earlier in the year came in low grade (Cl 6 & 7) handicaps over longer trips; would be a surprise winner given that she's not exactly excelled since her return from a summer break.

Form: 463689

(8)

Champagne Mondays^b⁷⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 8-7| J: K T O'Neill| T: S Dixon| OR: 45| C

12/1

Now rated 9lb lower than when narrowly winning a 6f classified stakes here last December; off for 76 days since finishing 2½L third to Requited here (6f) in early October; stablemate of Pearl Noir.

Form: 637403

(14)

Pearl Noir^b¹⁴

Age: 9| Weight: 8-7| J: Kieran Schofield⁽⁵⁾| T: S Dixon| OR: 45| C| D

40/1

Veteran of 116 races (11 wins) but is yet to strike over the minimum trip on Fibresand; sixth, behind the likes of Amazing Amaya, Eesha Says and Arzaak over C&D latest; stablemate of Champagne Mondays.

Form: 200586

Non-Runners

(12)

Arzaak¹⁴

Weight: 9-7| Age: 5

T: C Wallis J: Jason Hart

Forecasts

Eesha Says (3/1), Amazing Amaya (10/3), Hey Ho Let's Go (13/2), Arzaak (13/2), Blackcurrent (8/1), Decision Maker (8/1), Champagne Mondays (12/1), The Grey Zebedee (14/1), Classic Pursuit (20/1), Canimar (25/1), Espirit D'Escalier (25/1), Mable Lee (33/1), Pearl Noir (40/1), Little Miss Muffin (100/1)

With Eesha Says, Blackcurrent and Decision Maker among a handful of runners who are likely to force a searching early pace, there's a strong likelihood this will fall the way of a fast-finisher. AMAZING AMAYA did exactly that when nailing Loulin on the line here a fortnight ago and probably isn't too harshly treated with just a 4lb rise. The returning Irish raider Espirit D'Escalier is undoubtedly one to track in the market exchanges, while Mark Hoad should get a win out of his new recruit Hey Ho Let's Go sooner or later.