14:00 Wetherby

Saturday 13 November 2021

All12:1512:5013:2514:0014:3515:1015:45

Geoff Smith Poor Country Joiner Handicap Chase

Off time: 14:00 | Winning time: 5m 6.58s

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Selected odds by:

Return Ticket^t¹⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 11-12| J: B S Hughes| T: R Menzies| OR: 138| C| D

6/1

Built up a good record for this yard, landing another small-field contest over shorter here in October. Not disgraced when third at Musselburgh since but more needed now in what looks a stronger race.

Form: 631P-13

Schiehallion Munro²¹¹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-12| J: C O'Farrell| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 138| C| D

10/1

Promising 3-time winner as a novice chaser during 2019/20 who filled runners-up spot on 3 of last 4 starts last term. Not himself at Ayr final start and remains on a workable mark on return.

Form: 1/62226-

Cracking Destiny¹⁵

Age: 8| Weight: 11-9| J: Callum Bewley| T: Ewan Whillans| OR: 135| D

10/3

Eased in weights and duly capitalised when scoring at Stratford (19.5f, good) in August. Consistency hard to knock subsequently, second in a C&D listed event 2 weeks ago. Can go well again.

Form: 5-22142

Marracudja^t¹⁴

Age: 10| Weight: 11-8| J: Lorcan Williams⁽³⁾| T: D Skelton| OR: 134| C

25/1

Little fuss in landing 3-runner Fontwell handicap chase (17.7f) on return last month and not seen to best effect having lost lot of ground at Musselburgh thereafter. Still, others appeal more here.

Form: 312-516

Topofthecotswolds¹¹⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-4| J: Jordan Nailor⁽³⁾| T: N & W Twiston-Davies| OR: 130| D

11/2

Ran well a couple of times over fences early this season but out of sorts thereafter, pulled up in Summer Plate at Market Rasen (21.4f) in July. Break may have perked him up.

Form: 1F-256P

Palmers Hill²⁴¹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-4| J: T Scudamore| T: J & A O'Neill| OR: 130

5/2

Low-mileage 8-y-o who never figured on chase debut at Taunton (23f) last December. Caught the eye back over hurdles in Coral Cup final start and interesting if money comes for him on return.

Form: 312/409-

Game Of War²⁸

Age: 9| Weight: 10-12| J: Jack Andrews⁽⁵⁾| T: Olly Williams| OR: 124| D

66/1

More miss than hit over fences in recent times for Henry de Bromhead. Easy to back and offered little short-term ecnouragement on yard debut over hurdles at Market Rasen in October.

Form: 02F-097

Northern Bound^p²¹

Age: 7| Weight: 10-11| J: K Brogan⁽³⁾| T: B Pauling| OR: 123| D

5/1

Arrives in tremendous nick, value for extra when completing the hat-trick over 17f at Kelso (17f) last month. Return to further will hold no fears and he looks a player again from revised mark.

Form: 163111

Forecasts

Palmers Hill (5/2), Cracking Destiny (10/3), Northern Bound (5/1), Topofthecotswolds (11/2), Return Ticket (6/1), Schiehallion Munro (10/1), Marracudja (25/1), Game Of War (66/1)

NORTHERN BOUND was value for extra over the winning margin when completing a chase hat-trick at Kelso 2 weeks ago and a subsequent weight rise may not prevent another bold bid on that evidence. Cracking Destiny similarly arrives in good form and can feature, along with Schiehallion Munro. Palmers Hill needs monitoring in the market on return.