15:45 Leopardstown

Saturday 1 February 2020

All12:5013:2514:0014:3515:1015:4516:20

Ladbrokes Hurdle (Extended Handicap Hurdle) (0-150) (Grade B)

Off time: 15:47 | Winning time: 3m 53.0s

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Selected odds by:

Mister Blue Sky⁶²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-3| J: Katie O'Farrell⁽⁵⁾| T: W P Mullins| OR: 142| D

20/1

Useful on the Flat and looked a nice prospect when winning a Grade 2 on second start for this yard. However, well below form in two starts this winter.

Form: 121-330

Top Moon⁴⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-3| J: J J Slevin| T: J P O'Brien| OR: 143| BF| D

25/1

Progressive sort who has won two of his last five and may have won last time out if settling better in the early stages; up 5lb and drops in trip.

Form: 5-12212

Eglantine Du Seuil³⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 11-1| J: M P Fogarty| T: W P Mullins| OR: 140| D

20/1

Won the mares' novice at the Festival but disappointing in two starts so far this campaign; drop back in trip could suit.

Form: 313-335

Embittered^t³⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 11-1| J: H Morgan⁽⁷⁾| T: J P O'Brien| OR: 140| D

12/1

Placed in a Grade 2 bumper at this venue prior to winning a 25-runner maiden hurdle on debut over timber; disappointed twice since but remains low mileage.

Form: 13-4153

Foveros³⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: Brian Hayes| T: W P Mullins| OR: 138| D

33/1

Has won three times since joining this yard from France but has struggled in Graded company of late; should find the switch to handicaps easier and still unexposed to some extent.

Form: 121176

Unexcepted³⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: M P Walsh| T: W P Mullins| OR: 137| BF| D

6/1

Winner on debut for this yard and either didn't handle the step up in trip or didn't handle heavy ground when a well beaten runner-up next time; very interesting contender on handicap debut back down in trip.

Form: 3/12

Tiger Tap Tap²³

Age: 5| Weight: 10-10| J: D E Mullins| T: W P Mullins| OR: 136

7/1

Maiden hurdle winner who didn't need to improve to win a four-runner event at Clonmel in January; fascinating contender on his handicap debut here but will need to jump better.

Form: 249-411

Golden Spear^t³⁶

Age: 9| Weight: 10-9| J: R M Power| T: A J Martin| OR: 134| C| D

33/1

Two wins from 20 starts over hurdles but he's been in no sort of form in this sphere of late and showed nothing here when 23rd of 25 last time out; hard to recommend.

Form: 0/1-0880

Daybreak Boy^p³⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 10-8| J: Rachael Blackmore| T: H De Bromhead| OR: 133| D

20/1

Bounced back to form with an excellent second in first-time cheekpieces over C&D in December; up 4lb but he can go well again.

Form: 10-2302

Thatsy^t³⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 10-8| J: Jack Kennedy| T: G Elliott| OR: 133| D

7/1

Bumper winner who has been very consistent over hurdles to date, winning one of his four starts and placing on the other three runs; good fourth on handicap debut last time and should go well again, up just 2lb and unexposed.

Form: 2/1-2214

Buildmeupbuttercup^t⁶²

Age: 6| Weight: 10-7| J: Paul Townend| T: W P Mullins| OR: 132| D

5/1

Useful on the Flat and may have won on her return to hurdles last time out if jumping the last better. Freshened up since and rates as a fascinating contender here.

Form: 1500-P2

Mind's Eye^b1¹⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 10-7| J: D Robinson⁽³⁾| T: H De Bromhead| OR: 132| C| D

40/1

Course winner as a novice but that was in 2017 and he was disappointing when making mistakes over hurdles here last time out. Needs to improve for the fitting of first-time blinkers.

Form: PR-7249

Scheu Time⁵⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 10-4| J: D F O'Regan| T: J Nash| OR: 129| D

20/1

Got his head back in front at Cork last time and while that was impressive, he's been hit with a 10lb rise and he's in much deeper company here.

Form: 7-09921

Lever Du Soleil^p1²²

Age: 5| Weight: 10-2| J: J M Moore| T: G P Cromwell| OR: 128| D

50/1

Rattled off a four-timer on the Flat last summer but mark looks stiff enough on his return to hurdles and others make more appeal.

Form: 27-2542

Shumaker¹⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 10-1| J: Darragh O'Keeffe| T: Paul Traynor| OR: 126| D

40/1

Started this season with a hat-trick and got his head back in front on heavy ground at Fairyhouse last time. 6lb rise and the step up in class make life tougher but he's relatively consistent at least.

Form: 1113P1

Thosedaysaregone³²

Age: 7| Weight: 10-1| J: K J Brouder⁽³⁾| T: C Byrnes| OR: 126

7/1

At his best on heavy ground and still 8lb above his last winning mark but did run an eye-catching race at Punchestown last time; not entirely ruled out.

Form: 14518-6

You Raised Me Up^t⁶³

Age: 7| Weight: 10-0| J: L P Dempsey| T: M Brassil| OR: 125

22/1

Bumper winner at Galway and has run well in defeat on each of his three maiden hurdle runs; handicapper wouldn't appear to have taken any chances with his opening handicap mark though.

Form: 4/1-4225

Fan De Blues⁶⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 9-13| J: C P McNamara⁽⁵⁾| T: W P Mullins| OR: 125| D

11/2

Promising sort when trained in France and off the mark in good style in a maiden hurdle when debuting for this yard. Might want a step up in trip to be seen to best effect.

Form: 3542-31

Golden Jewel^t³⁶

Age: 8| Weight: 9-11| J: A W Short⁽³⁾| T: E Cawley| OR: 122| D

25/1

Still 12lb above his last winning handicap mark, despite no wins since May 201; ran with credit over C&D last time out but a 3lb rise won't help his bid to improve on that.

Form: 648-053

Fauguernon^b1²⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 9-10| J: S D Torrens⁽⁷⁾| T: N Meade| OR: 117| BF| CD

20/1

C&D winner of a novice handicap hurdle but not quite in the same form when runner-up at Cork latest; needs to improve for first-time blinkers.

Form: 55-4712

The Mouse Doctor^t¹⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 9-10| J: Phillip Enright| T: A J Martin| OR: 117| C| D

10/1

Got his head back in front at Musselburgh last time but hard to fancy from 4lb out of the handicap in a much more competitive heat.

Form: 00/08-41

Rasiym³⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 9-10| J: M A Enright| T: E J O'Grady| OR: 116

50/1

Promise on his return to hurdles in novice company last time out but set a stiff task from out of the handicap here.

Form: 3184

Non-Runners

Sire Du Berlais²¹

Weight: 11-10| Age: 8

T: G Elliott J: D N Russell

Forecasts

Buildmeupbuttercup (5/1), Fan De Blues (11/2), Unexcepted (6/1), Thosedaysaregone (7/1), Thatsy (7/1), Tiger Tap Tap (7/1), The Mouse Doctor (10/1), Embittered (12/1), Eglantine Du Seuil (20/1), Scheu Time (20/1), Fauguernon (20/1), Mister Blue Sky (20/1), Daybreak Boy (20/1), You Raised Me Up (22/1), Golden Jewel (25/1), Top Moon (25/1), Sire Du Berlais (25/1), Foveros (33/1), Golden Spear (33/1), Shumaker (40/1), Mind's Eye (40/1), Lever Du Soleil (50/1), Rasiym (50/1)

BUILDMEUPBUTTERCUP could be well-handicapped judged on the best of her Flat form and she ran with credit on her return to hurdles last time out. Unexpected is an obvious danger on handicap debut while Thatsy is another to consider with an unexposed profile.