16:55 Chepstow

Tuesday 16 May 2023

All13:3014:0514:4015:1515:5016:2516:55

Happy Birthday Steve Wilkins Handicap (Div 2)

Off time: 16:55 | Winning time: 1m 23.4s

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Selected odds by:

(8)

Letter Of The Law^b¹³

Age: 4| Weight: 9-9| J: Darragh Keenan| T: J G M O'Shea| OR: 54| D

9/1

5/2, improved on recent efforts to win 7-runner handicap at Brighton (8f, good) 13 days ago. 4 lb rise could have been worse and he's versatile ground-wise, so has more going for him than many of these rivals.

Form: 638251

(7)

Lilandra^p¹⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 9-7| J: William Cox| T: J L Flint| OR: 52| C

5/1

Course winner. Sixth of 8 in handicap (20/1) at Wolverhampton (7.2f) 14 days ago. Needs to bounce back but she evidently goes well here (course form figures read 732351). Still, others preferred.

Form: 5135-76

(3)

Latent Heat¹⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 9-5| J: L Morris| T: A W Carroll| OR: 50| D

9/1

Temperamental sort. Sixth of 8 in handicap at Wolverhampton (8.6f, 6/1) 17 days ago, missing break. Others make more appeal.

Form: 7008-06

(9)

Sympathise^h²¹

Age: 5| Weight: 9-5| J: Rhiain Ingram⁽³⁾| T: V R A Dartnall| OR: 50

9/4

Lightly-raced winner. 7/1, career best when winning 13-runner handicap at Wolverhampton (6.1f) 21 days ago, responding well. Nudged up just 2 lb and likely to be in the mix if able to reproduce that form now switched to turf.

Form: 0/57-21

(1)

Fact Or Fable^p¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 9-4| J: Mr Taylor Fisher⁽⁵⁾| T: J S Moore| OR: 49| D

8/1

Won 9-runner handicap at Brighton (7f, good, 9/2) 13 days ago, driven out. 3 lb rise fair enough and he was runner-up twice here from 3 visits in 2022, so there is certainly cause for optimism, for all this his strike rate on turf (1-26) is very modest.

Form: 343401

(4)

Deacs Delight^b¹³

Age: 4| Weight: 9-2| J: David Probert| T: P & O Cole| OR: 47

25/1

Remains a maiden after 18 Flat runs. 4½ lengths sixth of 9 to Fact Or Fable in handicap at Brighton (7f, good, 15/2) 13 days ago. Plenty to find on form.

Form: 749-886

(2)

Won Love^t²⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 9-1| J: Hollie Doyle| T: D M Loughnane| OR: 46| D

12/1

Fifth of 11 in handicap at Brighton (7f, good, 18/1) 24 days ago and, all things considered, he's likely to find a few too good once more.

Form: 337795

(6)

Stickyourneckout¹⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 9-0| J: Ray Dawson| T: J F Levins| OR: 45

10/3

Remains a maiden after 16 Flat runs. Fifth of 13 in handicap at Sligo (5.7f, soft, 16/1) 16 days ago. Step back up in trip should help and not ruled out here off 2 lb lower for an Irish yard that does well with its runners (particularly horses aged 4+ on turf) on these shores.

Form: 00005-5

(5)

Artemisia Gentile^h¹⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 9-0| J: Alec Voikhansky⁽⁵⁾| T: J R Jenkins| OR: 45

50/1

Last of 7 in handicap (50/1) at Yarmouth (7f, good) 14 days ago. 3 lb 'wrong' at the weights and it's easy enough to look elsewhere.

Form: 05880-7

Forecasts

Sympathise (9/4), Stickyourneckout (10/3), Lilandra (5/1), Fact Or Fable (8/1), Letter Of The Law (9/1), Latent Heat (9/1), Won Love (12/1), Deacs Delight (25/1), Artemisia Gentile (50/1)

LETTER OF THE LAW did the job well under a typically positive ride when resuming winnings ways over a mile at Brighton recently and, with neither a 4 lb rise nor the drop back to 7f of any great concern, he is taken to follow up. Fellow last-time-out winners Sympathise and Fact Or Fable are feared most, in that order of preference. Also worth a mention is Irish-raider Stickyourneckout, who should benefit from the return to this trip.