2:40 Huntingdon: 2m4f Class 5 handicap chase
PricedUp Boosted Prices Daily Novices' Handicap Steeple Chase
A small novices' handicap chase on good ground with an improving young winner of its last two races at the top and a reliable but winless placer close behind on the figures. The rest have little recent chase form at this trip, so it reads as a two-horse race unless Eastern Shores takes to fences.
The figure and the read. Helios Allen tops our figures, but it was beaten 4½L by Cap Ricochet at Market Rasen on 17 Oct and has no win at the trip from 4 runs, while Cap Ricochet has won both of its October races, each in a field that has since produced winners.
The runners
In order of our rating, best first. The rating is in pounds, so the gap says how far behind the top each one is: a 2lb race is open, a 10lb race is not. Press Form on any horse for its runs, the case for and against, and what suits it. Prices as at 10:00.
12Cap Ricochet408-11 · Brian Hughes · John Dawson95100top4/5Won both October chases at Market Rasen; both races have worked out
Won at Market Rasen on 8 Oct off OR 83, and from that race Walk In The Valley has since won off OR 92 and Glance At Me off OR 80. It followed up there on 17 Oct off OR 89, rallying to beat Golly Gosh a neck, and Golly Gosh won at Plumpton off OR 76 next time. Helios Allen was 4½L back in third that day and is 6lb better off today. It now runs off OR 95. Its 1 run over fences at today's trip was a win, and its only visit to Huntingdon was in a bumper.
Trip, ground and class all suit, with Brian Hughes riding off a mark 6lb higher than its last win.
Up to OR 95 from OR 89, and Helios Allen is 6lb better off for the 4½L beating.
Our figure (in testing): 2nd of 6. The read has him 1st.
5 earlier runs
25Helios Allen p5/2234 · Jonathan Burke · Ben Case7495-57/2Its 2nd at Southwell on 1 Oct has thrown up winners, and it is 6lb better off with Cap Ricochet, but it has 0 wins from 4 runs at the trip.
Was 3rd, 4½L behind Cap Ricochet, at Market Rasen on 17 Oct and is 6lb better off today. Its 2nd at Southwell on 1 Oct has worked out well: Noble Recall, 1¼L behind, has since won off OR 73, and My Bobby's Lass has won a Class 4 chase off OR 86. It was also 2nd at Fontwell on 28 Aug to Youdecide, who has since been 2nd in Class 2 chases off OR 110. It has run 4 times at today's trip over fences with 0 wins and 2 places, and races off OR 74 again. It jumped awkwardly at the last two fences when 4th at Lingfield on 3 Nov.
Same trip and mark as last time, on its ideal good ground, with cheekpieces kept on.
Has 0 wins from 4 runs at the trip and tends to find one too good.
Our figure (in testing): 1st of 6. The read has him 2nd.
5 earlier runs
33Eastern Shores t256-7P · Kielan Woods · Fergal O'Brien9088-1215/2Ran ½L behind subsequent dual winner Roaring Home off OR 101 over hurdles; on OR 90 it has a chance if it jumps fences, but recent form is poor.
Was 5th at Bangor-on-Dee on 31 Mar off OR 101, ½L behind Roaring Home, who has since won off OR 101 and OR 105 and been 2nd off OR 114 in a Class 3. At Ffos Las on 21 Apr it was 6th, with Corner Forward 7¼L ahead, and Corner Forward has since won off OR 96. Its latest runs were poor: 7th of 8 at Huntingdon on 19 May over an inadequate trip, and pulled up on soft ground at Fontwell on 21 Oct. It has run 4 times at Huntingdon with 2 places, including a 2nd off OR 103, and its last run came over hurdles, so this looks a first try over fences off OR 90.
Its last run came over hurdles and it has no form at the trip; the ground is better than at Fontwell, and it runs off OR 90 for Fergal O'Brien.
Has shown nothing since the spring and pulled up last time.
Our figure (in testing): 4th of 6. The read has her 3rd.
5 earlier runs
44Blackijo Dagrostis tp343-6P · Stan Sheppard · Matt Sheppard7685-1516/1Has a falling mark at OR 76, but was beaten 25¾L then pulled up in its last two runs and has never placed at 2m4f.
Its best recent run was 3rd at Warwick on 23 Apr off OR 82, beaten 7¾L, with Lone Soldier 2¼L ahead and since a winner off OR 79. Since then it has been beaten 25¾L at Worcester on 25 Sep and pulled up at Stratford on 17 Oct, where it folded tamely. It has dropped to OR 76. It has had 1 run at this sort of trip over fences without placing; its best there was 4th of 7 at Stratford on 6 Oct 2025 off OR 90. It has never run at Huntingdon.
Steps up 3f in trip off a mark 3lb lower than its last start, in a tongue strap and cheekpieces.
Folded tamely and pulled up last time, and has never placed at the trip.
Our figure (in testing): 3rd of 6. The read has him 4th.
5 earlier runs
56Walk The Plank p1-4583 · Dylan Johnston · Clare Hobson7483-1713/2Huntingdon winner off OR 73, but untried at 2m4f and error-prone
Won over 2m½f at Huntingdon on 18 Mar off OR 73 and races off OR 74 today. It has 1 win and 1 place from 2 runs at the course. Mistakes cost it at Southwell on 9 Jun and Market Rasen on 28 May as well. It has not run at today's trip in the last 3 yrs.
Steps up 4f in trip for the first time, returning to a course where it has won, off OR 74.
All its recent form is at 2m-2m1f and it makes jumping errors.
Our figure (in testing): 5th of 6. The read has him 5th.
5 earlier runs
61Mountain Port t770-06 · Robbie David(5) · Daisy Hitchins10074-2618/1Beaten 13L and 32¾L in its last two hurdle runs, and off OR 100 on fences it has a lot to find.
Was beaten 13L into 6th of 7 over hurdles at Stratford on 5 Sep off OR 102, and none of that field has won since. Before that it was 12th of 14, beaten 32¾L, at Wexford on 3 Jul. It goes over fences off OR 100 and carries 168lb, with its rider claiming 5lb. It has no runs at today's trip in the last 3 yrs and has never run at Huntingdon. Today is 66 days since its last run; off earlier breaks of 60+ days it has run 4 times with 1 win.
Switches to fences off OR 100 over a trip it has not tried in the last 3 yrs, after a 66-day break, in a tongue strap.
Off OR 100, it has shown nothing to justify that mark this year.
Our figure (in testing): 6th of 6. The read has him 6th.
5 earlier runs
How to read this table
Rating is the read's own figure for each horse today, in pounds on one scale for the race. Our figure, a separate mechanical rating, is in testing and shows inside each horse's form until it has a record worth showing.
Days is days since the horse last ran. OR is its official rating. A small letter after the name is headgear (b blinkers, v visor, p cheekpieces, t tongue tie, h hood).
Key form lines
The past races that say most about this one, and what they mean today.
Cap Ricochet beat Golly Gosh, who won next time off OR 76, with Helios Allen 4½L back in third; Helios Allen is 6lb better off today but has to turn round a clear beating.
Cap Ricochet's first win came in a race that has since produced winners off OR 92 and OR 80, so it was a sound Class 5 chase.
Helios Allen's 2nd here reads solid, as Noble Recall, 1¼L behind it, has since won off OR 73 and My Bobby's Lass has won a Class 4 chase off OR 86.
Eastern Shores finished ½L behind Roaring Home, who has since won off OR 101 and OR 105, which shows it once ran to a good level over hurdles.
Where today's runners have met
Races two or more of today's runners have run in, the last 18 months first. "Terms" shows how the weights have moved since, against the best-placed of them that day.
| Finished | Behind Cap Ricochet | Terms v Cap Ricochet | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cap Ricochet | 1st | — | the yardstick |
| Helios Allen | 3rd | 4½L | 6lb better off |