Call Star Sports On 08000 521 321 Novices' Handicap Chase

Off time: 13:35 | Winning time: 3m 53.1s

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Selected odds by:

Henri Le Bon²⁰²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-10| J: R Patrick| T: Kerry Lee| OR: 103

15/2

Fair maiden hurdler in 2019/20 but disappointed in handicap hurdles last season and ran no sort of race on his Worcester chase debut in May. A break since needs to have done him some good.

Form: 2/6690-P

Zamani^p²⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-6| J: Mitchell Bastyan⁽³⁾| T: D G Bridgwater| OR: 99

10/1

Form: 4669-75

Admiral Balko^t⁴⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 10-13| J: Chester Williams⁽³⁾| T: Mrs J Williams| OR: 100

3/1

Made a winning handicap hurdle debut at Wincanton in March. Weakened after racing keenly on his Worcester reappearance and should come on for the run. Interesting contender on chase debut.

Form: 2531-8

Richie Valentine^p,t⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 10-11| J: Benjamin Poste| T: J G M O'Shea| OR: 90

22/1

Scored twice over fences at the end of the summer but his run of good form has come to a grinding halt since.

Form: 1R1F5P

Judex Lefou^t²⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 10-8| J: Alan Johns| T: Tim Vaughan| OR: 87

11/2

Placed on several occasions over hurdles for Thomas Mullins. Largely struggled for this yard but he did show some aptitide to chasing when third over 2m at Ludlow 20 days ago. Needs to build on that.

Form: P59-973

Ben Buie^v1¹⁰⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 10-8| J: S Bowen| T: M Keighley| OR: 87

6/1

Ended 2020 on a low-key note and no better in a pair of comeback runs in the summer. First-time visor (replacing cheekpieces) needs to help.

Form: 4UPP-90

Loup De Maulde²³

Age: 4| Weight: 10-2| J: Jack Tudor⁽³⁾| T: Christian Williams| OR: 89

2/1

Made a promising start over fences/in handicaps when third over C&D 23 days ago, good headway when mistake 2 out halted his momemtum. Likely improver and leading claims.

Form: 329433

Non-Runners

Blueberg²⁷

Weight: 11-12| Age: 5

T: Evan Williams J: Adam Wedge

Forecasts

Loup De Maulde (2/1), Admiral Balko (3/1), Judex Lefou (11/2), Ben Buie (6/1), Blueberg (6/1), Henri Le Bon (15/2), Zamani (10/1), Richie Valentine (22/1)

LOUP DE MAULDE's jumping wasn't foot perfect on his C&D chase debut at the start of the month but he has the potential to improve with that experience behind him and there were positives to draw from that run so he's the selection. Not many bring compelling chase form to the table so it could be that the main threat comes from fence-newcomers Admiral Balko and Blueberg.