EXETER (18 Apr 2006)

Firm

4:30 Elite Racing Club Handicap Hurdle (class 3) (4yo+,0-125)

[off 4:30] £5,204.80, £1,528.00, £764.00, £381.60 10 hdles 2m3f

Comments In Running OR TS RPR

1 No Way Back (IRE) Miss E C Lavelle 6 10-6 B Fenton 8/1 105 — —

2 5 Flotta B G Powell 7 11-10 J P McNamara EvensF 123 — —

3 14 Fontanesi (IRE) M C Pipe 6 11-12 p T J Murphy 3/1 125 — —

4 9 Goldbrook R J Hodges 8 11-0 James White(7) 10/1 120 — —

5 dist Island Stream (IRE) P F Nicholls 7 11-5 b Christian Williams 14/1 118 — —

F Legally Fast (USA) S C Burrough 4 9-13 22 C Honour(3) 9/1 107 — —

6 ran TIME 4m 26.40s (slow by 6.40s) TOTAL SP 111%

NON RUNNER: Wiscalitus (GER)

1st OWNER: G P MacIntosh BRED: Gerard McMahon TRAINER: Miss E C Lavelle

2nd OWNER: G Hatchard,R Gunn,L Gilbert & R Williams

3rd OWNER: D A Johnson

TOTE WIN £9.60 PL £3.10, £1.30; Ex £31.30; CSF £17.13

ANALYSIS: A decent little handicap hurdle.

Whether NO WAY BACK would have collected if Legally Fast had not crashed out at the last hurdle is debatable. However one thing for certain is that this was an improved showing from the winner, which connections put down to the ground, as his recent defeats had been on soft conditions.

He is the type who will be kept on the go now and further, along with fences, would not go amiss as he has the make and shape for that game.

Flotta, having his first outing since last October, ran his race and should soon be able to get his head back in front as he handles this ground.

Fontanesi has dropped to a winnable mark but was lacking in pace, and this former Cheltenham Festival winner may need a rest having been kept fairly busy.

Standard

2:30 Play Blackjack At intercasino.co.uk Handicap (class 4) (4yo+,0-85)

[off 2:30] £6,477.00, £1,927.00, £963.00, £481.00 1m4f

Comments In Running OR TS RPR

1 Country Pursuit (USA) (5) C E Brittain 4 9-1 R L Moore 11/2 80 88 91+

2 2 Young Mick (8) G G Margarson 4 9-4 6v J Quinn 13/8F 83 88 91

3 1¼ Prime Contender (6) B W Hills 4 8-6 M Hills 12/1 71 74 77

4 ¾ Flotta (7) B G Powell 7 9-4 G Baker 25/1 82 84 87

5 5 Modaffaa (3) P R Webber 6 9-2 C Catlin 14/1 80 74 77

6 ¾ I Have Dreamed (IRE) (1) T G Mills 4 9-1 I Mongan 2/1 80 73 76+

7 12 Spinning Coin (2) J G Portman 4 9-1 P Cosgrave 16/1 80 53 56

8 dist Eye Candy (IRE) (4) K A Ryan 5 8-8 b N Callan 28/1 72 — —

8 ran TIME 2m 30.10s (fast by 1.60s) TOTAL SP 114%

1st OWNER: Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum BRED: Allen E Paulson Living Trust TRAINER: C E Brittain

2nd OWNER: M F Kentish

3rd OWNER: Matthew Green & Richard Green

TOTE TRIFECTA Pool: £1,073.83 - 13.06 winning tickets WIN £6.40 PL £1.90, £1.10, £2.90; Ex £9.80; CSF £14.86; TRICAST £102.16Pool: £1,073.83 - 13.06 winning tickets

ANALYSIS: This was a truly run contest and that was reflected in the overall time, which was a full second and a half faster than standard and helps to give the form a solid look.

Having been run out of things close home over an extra furlong here on his returnto action 15 days ago, COUNTRY PURSUIT was clearly much sharper this time and the return to this trip proved ideal. Having helped force the pace early, his pilot appeared happy to let someone else take over and sit handy on the inner until coming under pressure three out. He did not look a likely winner at that point, it must be said, but he responded to the urgings of his rider to quicken clear of front pairing in decisive fashion as they straightened up for home. Having been two lengths clear of Young Mick entering the final furlong, he maintained that advantage to the line and was full value for the winning margin. Connections indicated that he may be aggressively campaigned this term but he'd need to improve again for a return to the turf.

Young Mick came here on the crest of a wave and looked better than ever when bolting up at Yarmouth just three days earlier. He was, however, 8lb higher in this better contest so another career best was required. His supporters would have been more than hopeful as Jimmy Quinn looked to have the leaders in his sights approaching three out but he was momentarily tapped for toe on the home turn, where the winner was able to quicken away from him and that ultimately proved a race-winning manoeuvre given he was never able to close in on that rival thereafter.

Connections were adamant afterwards that this course doesn't suit his style of racing, but although he's won over this trip before, this was possibly the first time he's contested a really true run mile-and-a-half contest and perhaps he was found out by the strength of this event. His trainer's pre-race opinion that the horse could be bordering on Listed class looks somewhat optimistic on this evidence but the return to ten furlongs may enable him toprogress further, and the Roseberry Stakes at Kempton is apparently now on the agenda.

Prime Contender and Flotta, both of whom had been hurdling this winter, ran respectable races in defeat and on this evidence are capable of adding to their flat successes.