Alan Adcock 90th Birthday Celebration Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 14:50 | Winning time: 6m 40.5s

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Selected odds by:

Spitfire Bridge^p⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 12-0| J: M Goldstein| T: Miss S West| OR: 89

17/2

Looked a work in progress in maiden/novice hurdles but has failed to improve for the switch to handicaps, well-held on most recent hurdles outing at Fontwell (21.8f) in November. More recent Flat form has been uninspiring and has questions to answer over this longer trip on his return to hurdles.

Form: 5245P5

Presenting Yeats^b²¹⁴

Age: 9| Weight: 12-0| J: Harry Reed| T: R G Hawker| OR: 89| C| D

18/1

Temperamental sort who is yet to make an impact for this stable, off the bridle a long way out when well-beaten at Worcester last September. Looks up against it on his return.

Form: 46-6068

Wot You Wearing^p,t¹¹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-12| J: Ben Jones| T: R Stephens| OR: 87

3/1

Shaped with promise on his return at Hereford in October but has lost his form badly since, faring no better in two runs over fences most recently. Remains to be seen whether he can capitalise on his falling handicap mark back up in trip.

Form: 6P0P4P

High Joker^v1⁹²

Age: 8| Weight: 11-10| J: Charlie Price⁽³⁾| T: R L Llewellyn| OR: 85

18/1

Showed more than on debut when third of 5 in novice hurdle at Stratford (22f, good) in May, albeit beaten a long way. Showed little on his return in January, admittedly over a trip that was likely too sharp. First-time visor/longer trip need to spark improvement on handicap debut.

Form: 9-3P

R Bernard^p⁸⁶

Age: 9| Weight: 11-9| J: Tabitha Worsley⁽³⁾| T: Mrs M Rowley| OR: 84| CD

3/1

Landed a double over hurdles at this venue in April/May (the latter over C&D) but struggled since, faring no in first-time tongue tie when running poorly at Market Rasen (23f) in January. Back down to his last winning mark but needs to recapture his form returned to this track.

Form: 1-16608

Blackacre^p⁴⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: Isabel Williams⁽³⁾| T: Evan Williams| OR: 77

10/3

Remains a maiden but ran his best effort over hurdles this season when second of 6 in handicap hurdle at Ffos Las (23.9f, heavy) 44 days ago, albeit well-beaten by the winner. Cheekpieces refitted and has claims racing off his lowest mark over hurdles to date.

Form: 562352

Clover Pass^h1²⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 10-10| J: Murray Dodd⁽⁷⁾| T: A Ralph| OR: 71

11/2

Half-sister to fairly useful hurdler but she's shown little in the way of promise herself so far, including in handicaps. Wears first-time hood and will need to find improvement for this marked step up in trip.

Form: P-057P6

Non-Runners

Quite The Getaway³⁴

Weight: 11-6| Age: 7

T: R Bevis J: Finn Lambert

Forecasts

R Bernard (3/1), Wot You Wearing (3/1), Quite The Getaway (3/1), Blackacre (10/3), Clover Pass (11/2), Spitfire Bridge (17/2), Presenting Yeats (18/1), High Joker (18/1)

Hard to make a strong case for any of these but BLACKACRE did turn in a better effort over hurdles last time, and he may be able to break his maiden tag off 2 lb lower in a very ordinary contest. Wot You Wearing has lost his form following a promising reappearance but is fairly-treated if on a going day, while R Bernard has also gone off the boil but makes some appeal given that he's 2-2 at this course.