McCoy Contractors Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap) (Registered As The Fred Winter) (GBB)

AW winner; turf form on very soft or heavy; badly in with The Mighty Celt on their French clash; it was all very straightforward on his Irish debut at Limerick but he cut little ice in a Grade 1 at the Dublin Racing Festival (18-1); doesn't look a Mullins masterplan and the yard is 0-25 in this race; tongue-tie added.

One of two runners for a yard that's won this four times; ran to a smart level on the Flat and made a winning start over hurdles, but reality checks have followed in Graded races won by tip-top juvenile Narciso Has; hardly brings momentum into his handicap debut and has a lot of weight; there will be no ground excuses.

Has raced on only soft or heavy ground; progressive form figures and he looked full of beans when accounting for a respected rival with the pair dominant in a maiden at Gowran Park last month; he dictated up front in that slowly run race, so the bare form is perhaps best treated with an element of caution; however, he runs in this instead of the Triumph and it's hard to identify the ceiling of his ability.

Runner-up in both his French races and he comfortably reeled in the front-runners to justify market confidence (100-30) on his Irish debut at Fairyhouse (heavy); good to soft ground would be a first but he might well approve of drier conditions as he's not the biggest; trainer's form figures in this race are 146P and there were excuses for the one who pulled up; respected, for all that the handicapper has factored potential into this initial mark.

When all his best form on the Flat and over hurdles is on good ground, it's best to put a line through his run on heavy in a French Grade 1 last time (November); he beat little of note when making hay in minor jumps meetings last summer but barely broke sweat in any of those races and his jumping was pinpoint accurate; one to be interested in for a trainer (also runs Glen To Glen) who knows what's required for this; gelded since his last run.