Racecards
14:35 Great Leighs
Champagne Handicap (Class 5)
- 9 Runners
- Distance: 6f
- Going: Standard
- Surface: Polytrack
- £4,000 added
- Form 113034
- Age 3
- Weight 9-4
- Official Rating 75
- Trainer K A Ryan
- Jockey P Mulrennan
led, ridden 2f out, headed inside final furlong, driven and stayed on
- Form 800335
- Age 3
- Weight 9-4
- Official Rating 75
- Trainer M Botti
- Jockey Andrea Atzeni
mid-division, lost place and dropped to rear after 2f, ridden over 1f out, kept on, never near to challenge
- Form 411708
- Age 3
- Weight 9-3
- Official Rating 74
- Trainer P D Evans
- Jockey James Doyle
slowly into stride, in rear, kept on final furlong, never near leaders
- Form 251484
- Age 5
- Weight 9-2
- Official Rating 73
- Trainer D J S Ffrench Davis
- Jockey Billy Cray
slowly into stride, pulled hard, headway into mid-division after 2f, ridden and effort over 1f out, stayed on same pace final furlong
- Form 32-2280
- Age 4
- Weight 9-1
- Official Rating 72
- Trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam
- Jockey J F McDonald
pulled hard in rear, wide into straight 2f out, ridden and headway approaching final furlong, ran on to take 3rd towards finish
- Form 050622
- Age 6
- Weight 9-0
- Official Rating 71
pulled hard, in rear, headway to chase leaders halfway, ridden and weakened over 1f out
- Form 5-33136
- Age 3
- Weight 8-10
- Official Rating 67
- Trainer Mrs L C Jewell
- Jockey R Thomas
pulled hard in touch, chased leader 4f out, ridden over 1f out, weakened entering final furlong
- Form 800073
- Age 3
- Weight 8-10
- Official Rating 67
- Trainer M R Channon
- Jockey Tony Culhane
tracked leaders, ridden over 2f out, led inside final furlong, driven out
- Form 218467
- Age 3
- Weight 8-6
- Official Rating 63
- Trainer Lucinda Featherstone
- Jockey N Chalmers
tracked leader 2f, remained in touch, ridden 2f out, weakened final furlong
In depth
Verdict
DON PELE hasn't won for more than a year, but can end a run of places in this lowly handicap, with the main challengers expected to be Leading Edge and Wotashirtfull. Ron Harris' gelding is the oldest and most experienced here, and despite not having the greatest of years, still has around a 10% strike rate on the all-weather, but this is his Great Leighs debut. He's previously won off a much higher rating than he's got now, but still looks to have a win within him, having retained his enthusiasm, and he'd be a popular winner. Leading Edge won a better race than this at Doncaster in the summer, but after setting the pace here earlier in the month faded disappointingly. That was an apprentices' race though, so Tony Culhane may be able to get more out of her. She does seem to be taking to the surface though, after a disappointing time on the turf. Wotashirtfull wasn't out of the first three in his first nine races, with a couple of wins to boot. He's been off the track since a disappointing August, and this is his all-weather debut. He's giving weight away to all bar one, and Kevin Ryan makes the long trip down from North Yorkshire for just this one runner. It's another contest where many are out of form, so any market moves should be noted, but we'll side with Don Pele.
Formwatch
Wotashirtfull (IRE) 4-1 (9-6) Slowly into stride, soon close up, ridden over 1f out, no extra final furlong, 4th of 6, 7l behind Killer Class (8-1) at Ayr 5f 3yo hcp (4) sft in Aug.
Secret Dubai (IRE) 16-1 (8-9) Mid-division, driven and headway over 1f out, not reach leaders, 5th of 11, 5l behind The Game (9-6) at Lingfield 6f hcp 0-80 (4) pol.
Geoffdaw 16-1 (9-4) Held up in rear, pushed along over 2f out, kept on final furlong, never reached challenging position, 8th of 12, 9l behind Randama Bay (8-13) at Kempton 1m hcp 0-75 (5) pol in Nov.
Brandywell Boy (IRE) 11-1 (8-10) Held up, headway on inside over 1f out, every chance inside final furlong, unable to quicken towards finish, 4th of 8, 3l behind Little Edward (9-5) at Lingfield 6f clm (6) pol.
War And Peace (IRE) 12-1 (9-4) Always towards rear, 11th of 16, 9l behind Memphis Man (9-1) at Windsor 6f hcp 0-75 (5) gf in Sept.
Don Pele (IRE) 10-1 (8-5) Chased leaders, ridden to lead over 1f out, driven and headed near line, 2nd of 10, shd behind Charles Parnell (9-4) at Southwell 6f hcp 0-80 (4) fbs.
Jane's Payoff (IRE) 10-1 (9-2) Mid-division, effort over 1f out, stayed on final furlong, 6th of 12, 3l behind First Trim (9-2) at Newmarket 5f 3yo hcp (5) gf in Jun.
Leading Edge (IRE) 20-1 (8-12) Led, ridden over 1f out, headed inside final furlong, no extra, 3rd of 6, 2 1/2l behind Milne Bay (8-5) at Great Leighs 6f app hcp (5) pol.
Maybe I Wont 20-1 (8-8) With leader, raced keenly, led 4f out, headed over 2f out, weakened well over 1f out, 7th of 8, 9l behind To Be Or Not To Be (8-4) at W'hampton 7f hcp 0-75 (5) pol.