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15:00 Ascot

Saturday 4 November 2017

All12:4013:1513:5014:2515:0015:3516:05

William Hill Handicap Hurdle (Listed)

Off time: 15:01 | Winning time: 3m 42.7s

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Selected odds by:

Air Horse One¹⁸⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: N D Fehily| T: H Fry| OR: 141| BF| C

8/1

Thriving in the early months of 2017, winning three on the bounce (including at Ascot) and maturing into an accomplished handicapper. Close up in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham in March (fourth to Arctic Fire), and a definite player.

Form: 411140-

High Bridge²³⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Mr Alex Ferguson⁽⁷⁾| T: B Pauling| OR: 141| D

7/1

Always well regarded, but blossomed for this trainer in novice hurdles last season after leaving the care of Charlie Appleby. Challenging for the handicapper to evaluate ahead of his handicap debut. Further improvement a strong possibility.

Form: 16/1119-

Elgin²⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-11| J: Tom Cannon| T: A King| OR: 140| BF| D

6/1

Progressed with each start last season after opening up with victory in a 2m maiden hurdle at Newcastle in November. Ended up in the Supreme Novices Hurdle in March (seventh), and posted a reasonable handicap debut at Chepstow last month.

Form: 11227-4

Verdana Blue¹⁹⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-7| J: J McGrath| T: N J Henderson| OR: 136| BF| D

6/1

Ex Irish trained, who won a couple of mares novice hurdles for this trainer last season (Hereford and Taunton) before being found just ever so slightly short in stronger events. Her April Cheltenham effort has been franked by Brillare Momento.

Form: 4U1143-

Dolos^t²¹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-6| J: Stan Sheppard⁽³⁾| T: P F Nicholls| OR: 135| BF| D

7/1

No match for the progressive winner Silver Streak on seasonal reappearance at Chepstow last month (2m good to soft), but hasn't done anything wrong since finishing down the field in the Fred Winter at Cheltenham in March.

Form: 30212-2

Caid Du Lin^p,t²⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Sam Twiston-Davies| T: Dr R D P Newland| OR: 133

12/1

Has returned to action after a summer break in good order, and is 6lb higher for winning by 4½L at Fontwell last month (2m1½f good). His trainer is also in form having saddled the Durham National winner at Sedgefield on Thursday.

Form: 3UP-231

Song Light^b1²⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 11-3| J: Kevin Jones⁽⁵⁾| T: J W Mullins| OR: 132| D

8/1

Refused to race on his latest hurdles 'start' at Haydock in May (Swinton Hurdle), so that's got to be a major concern. However, he returned a ready 8L winner on the Flat at Goodwood last month (2m soft), and now has the blinkers applied.

Form: 5/3402-R

Fou Et Sage³⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: B J Cooper| T: H Whittington| OR: 131

40/1

All three career wins have been gained in France including in a chase over an extended 2m2f at Craon (good to soft) in September 2016. No show when back from a ten month break (hurdles) at Market Rasen in September.

Form: 41227-0

Peruvien Bleu⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-1| J: Chester Williams⁽⁷⁾| T: Nick Williams| OR: 130| D

16/1

His progress over hurdles had seemingly stalled until running out a ready 2¾L winner at Ludlow last week. However, this assignment represents an altogether different test with extra weight on his back. Wouldn't want to see all that much rain.

Form: 31-1241

Midnight Maestro²⁰³

Age: 5| Weight: 10-11| J: Brendan Powell| T: A King| OR: 126| BF| D

9/1

Ran no race at Haydock in April after a mid-race blunder, but had appeared largely progressive prior to that disappointment, beating Brotherly Company by 4L at Stratford in March (2m soft). Unexposed and market informative.

Form: 1/1921P-

Prairie Town¹⁹⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 10-10| J: Lee Edwards| T: A W Carroll| OR: 125| D

66/1

Not won since November 2015 (2m soft, Sandown), but earns no respite from the assessor, largely due to his consistent profile. Finished 12L third to Great Fighter at Ayr in April (2m good to soft), and that's not strong enough form here.

Form: 722F33-

Limited Reserve³⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 10-8| J: D F O'Regan| T: Christian Williams| OR: 123| D

8/1

15lb above his last winning mark (2m soft, Ffos Las in December 2016), but has performed respectably since joining this trainer, returning to action at Market Rasen in September with a 5L fourth to Listen To The Man (Caid Du Lin third).

Form: 1125-24

Clayton³⁶⁶

Age: 8| Weight: 10-7| J: A Glassonbury| T: G & J Moore| OR: 122| D

20/1

Plumpton winner (February 2016) who has been off the track for 12 months since finishing 11L second to Peter the Mayo Man at Newbury in November 2016 (2m½f good).

Form: 92102/2-

East Indies¹⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 10-6| J: J E Moore| T: G & J Moore| OR: 121| D

25/1

5lb higher than when successful at Plumpton in September (2m good) when accounting for Commanche Chieftain by 3¾L. This represents a much sterner test, but aged just four, is open to further improvement.

Form: 3862-18

Non-Runners

Jenkins²⁰²

Weight: 11-8| Age: 5

T: N J Henderson J: David Bass

Forecasts

Jenkins (4/1), Elgin (6/1), Verdana Blue (6/1), High Bridge (7/1), Dolos (7/1), Limited Reserve (8/1), Air Horse One (8/1), Song Light (8/1), Midnight Maestro (9/1), Caid Du Lin (12/1), Peruvien Bleu (16/1), Clayton (20/1), East Indies (25/1), Fou Et Sage (40/1), Prairie Town (66/1)

A tricky puzzle to solve, but so often these kind of races go the way of second season hurdlers, so old rivals Elgin and Jenkins are likely to attract significant market support. The former downed the disappointing latter at Kempton on Boxing Day, but it mightn't be entirely wise to take that single piece of form at face value, with the Henderson trained runner having a rather lofty reputation from early on in his career. High Bridge is another horse who showed vast improvement after leaving the care of Charlie Appleby, and he was probably a tricky horse to handicap for the assessor. However, there was an awful lot to like about the top-weighted AIR HORSE ONE in the second half of last season, and with the Harry Fry team making a solid start to the new season, he's worth supporting from a mark just 1lb above his County Hurdle fourth to the classy Arctic Fire in March.