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2.00 JACK RICHARDS NOVICE LIMITED HANDICAP CHASE, 2M 4F 127YD

A race that reverts back to handicap status after 10 years as a level-weights contest, including most recently as a Grade One. The switch has definitely had the desired effect on the field size, as 20 are due to go to post after meagre turnouts of eight, four, seven and 11 in the last four years as a Grade One, but the flip-side for punters is that while four of the last five winners were at single-figure odds, there is much more chance of an upset today. Gordon Elliott’s Firefox, who has raced in Grade One company in two of his last three starts, has emerged from the pack as the likely favourite, but he is giving weight to every runner bar Springwell Bay, a winner over course and distance at the New Year’s Day meeting. Caldwell Potter is another interesting runner, not least as a result of his price tag - £632,000 – when he was bought by a syndicate including Sir Alex Ferguson and the late John Hales at a major dispersal sale in Ireland in February 2024. He has been the beaten favourite on his last two starts but makes his handicap debut on what could yet prove to be a decent mark. Elsewhere in the field, Ireland is well represented and Terence O’Brien’s Answer To Kayf is one that caught my eye. He was a very impressive winner of his handicap debut at Naas in January, and while that race was on heavy ground, he has enough form on a sounder surface to suggest that today’s going will not be an issue.