Gowran - PWC Champion Chase Individual Horse Profiles & Notes

It's been too long! The National Hunt racing is back and so is The Parade Ring and while many eyes may be on the group 1 flat action at Newmarket today (and, of course, Longchamp tomorrow), Gowran is the venue for the grade 2 Gowran Champion Chase, featuring Clarcam and Shanahans Turn among others. We’ve produced our individual horse profiles and notes for the big race to help you pick your winner.

Alechi Inois

• Overall record: 14 starts – 8 wins – 0 places
• Never ran at Gowran before
• Definite preference for better ground – 7-6-0 on good or better compared to 7-2-0 on good to yielding or worse.
• Can stay the trip (2-4-0 over 2m 4f, 4-1-0 over further) but arguably better over 2m 2f or less (6-5-0).
• Jockeys: DJ Casey 1-0-0, Paul Townend 5-4-0, Ruby Walsh 8-4-0
• He has come up short in this company before, unplaced on all 5 grade 1 and 2 starts with form of 7PP6P
• Very strong record in small fields – 7-6-0 in fields of 7 or less, 7-2-0 in fields of 8 or more
• Does well first time out after a break – 3 wins from 3 starts after a break of over 120 days, 5-1-0 when back out within 30 days (5-3-0 after a break of between 30 and 60 days).
• Runs well in the summer months – 6-5-0 from May-July, 2-1-0 in September and 1-1-0 in October but just 4-1-0 in November and unplaced on sole December start.

Clarcam

• Overall record: 16 starts – 5 wins – 7 places
• Never ran at Gowran before
• Hard to detect much of a preference based on ground – 6-2-3 with form of 221F21 on good ground is strong, but so is 4-1-3 on soft ground (form of 2221).
• Jockeys: Bryan Cooper 6-2-1, Noel Fehily 1-0-0, A E Lynch 1-0-1, Jason Maguire 1-0-1, Davy Russell 5-1-4, K C Sexton 1-1-0, Ruby Walsh 1-1-0
• 5-2-1 in grade 1 races so this grade 2 (in which he has a record of 1-0-1) shouldn’t be an issue in terms of class
• Seems to like small fields – 6-4-1 in fields of 7 or less. Win record isn’t as strong in bigger fields but place record still decent – 10-1-6.
• 2 wins from 2 starts when back out within 2 weeks of his last start.
• Never finished outside the places in the first half of the season – 9-4-5 from September to December with form of 221321211 (3-2-1 with form of 211 in October alone).

Shanahans Turn

• Overall record: 12 runs – 4 wins – 2 places
• 1-0-1 at Gowran – 2^nd on a bumper on his debut in October 2013.
• Possible preference for softer ground – 6-2-0 on yielding or better, 5-2-2 on yielding to soft or worse.
• 2-2-0 over this trip of 2m 4f
• Jockeys: J J Burke 6-3-0, Barry Geraghty 1-0-0, A E Lynch 4-1-1, D Roche 1-0-1
• Won on his sole start in a grade 2 race in the past. Possibly out of his depth in grade 1 races (6-1-0).
• Good record in small fields (4-3-0 in fields of 7 or less)  but this may not be a necessity – 3-1-1 in fields of 16 or more is a decent record.
• Runs better after a short break from the track – 3-2-1 when back out within 30 days, 8-2-0 after a break of more than 30 days
• 6-3-2 with form of 231115 from October to December compares very favourably with just 6-1-0 with form of 85PF01 before that.
• Preference for right-handed tracks – 7-3-2 compared to 5-1-0 going left-handed.

Devils Bride

• Overall Record: 12 starts – 7 wins – 1 place
• Never ran at Gowran before.
• `No clear preference in terms of ground.
• Jockeys: Bryan Cooper 4-2-1, Richard Johnson 1-1-0, P W Mullins 3-2-0, Paul Townend 4-2-0
• 2-2-0 in grade 2 and 3 races in the past with form of P8.
• Never outside the places with form of 3-2-1 after a break of over 60 days. 8-5-0 after a shorter break. Also won on his racecourse debut so seems to do well fresh.
• September/October is a strong period with 3 wins from 3 starts in these months. June/July also a successful period – 6-4-1 with form of 11112P.
• Possible preference for right-handed tracks – 8-5-1 with form of 141112P1 going right-handed compared to 4-2-0 and 1P81 going left-handed.
• Worth noting 2 wins from 2 starts with a tongue-tie – 10-5-1 without.

Indevan

• Overall record: 21 starts – 7 wins – 3 places
• 2-1-1 at Gowran – first two starts were bumpers here, 2^nd in March 2013 and won in April 2013.
• Seems to prefer better ground – 16-7-1 on yielding or better, 5-0-2 on soft or worse.
• Jockeys: D J Casey 1-0-0, Danny Mullins 2-0-0, P W Mullins 2-1-1, Paul Townend 5-2-0, Ruby Walsh 11-4-2
• Very strong record in small fields – 8-4-2 in fields of 7 or less, 13-3-1 in bigger fields.
• Unplaced from 7 starts when back out within 30 days of his last start. 13-7-2 after a longer break.
• Strong record of 2 wins from 2 starts in October.

Texas Jack

• Overall record: 26 starts – 6 wins – 5 places
• 1-0-1 at Gowran – 2^nd in the grade 2 Red Mills Chase over 2m 4f last February
• Good record on fairly soft ground – 15-3-5 on soft or soft to heavy. 3-1-0 on heavy ground and 8-2-0 on ground better than soft to heavy.
• Jockeys: Paul Carberry 19-5-5, D J Condon 2-0-0, G N Fox 2-0-0, Barry Geraghty 1-0-0, J P McKeown 1-1-0, Ruby Walsh 1-0-0
• Strong record of 3-2-0 in fields of 16 runners or more.
• Seems to run well when back out quickly – 4-1-2 with form of 1232 when back out within 2 weeks of his last start.
• Decent record in September/October – 3-1-2 with form of 122. This drops to 8-2-1 in November/December.

Cailin Annamh

• Overall record: 21 starts – 9 wins – 5 places
• 2-1-0 in Gowran – 5^th in a 2m bumper on his racecourse debut in October 2012, won a 2m 4f hurdle here in October 2013.
• Strong record on all going types, from 5-3-1 on good to firm to 2-2-0 on soft.
• Jockeys: M Fahey 2-1-0, Barry Geraghty 11-5-1, AP McCoy 1-0-1, R M Power 6-2-3, Davy Russell 1-1-0
• Unplaced on sole grade 2 start in the past.
• Seems to prefer smaller fields – 11-7-2 in fields of 11 or less, 10-2-3 in fields of 12 or more.
• Record deteriorates as break prior to run gets longer – 3-2-1 when back out within 2 weeks, 11-6-2 when back out within 16-30 days of her last start, 6-1-2 after a longer break – so, the shorter the break, the better.
• August, September, October a very strong period – a combined record of 8-6-0 with form of 51111141.
• Preference for right-handed tracks – 15-9-4 compared to 6-0-1 going left-handed.
• Likes undulating tracks – extremely strong record of 12-7-4 on such tracks.

As always, the very best of luck from all of us here at The Parade Ring, enjoy the racing and remember only to bet what you can afford to lose.