Neville Hotels Handicap Hurdle

17:51 Wexford Fri 07 Aug 2026 2m180y Good 8 runners

Mr Fox’s call

Ma Belle Etoile

MEDIUM Advised 7/1 Est. 22%

🥉 3RD

Mr Fox says

Ma Belle Etoile (SR:109, 7/1, 11-0) is the most coherent case when signals are stacked together. The De Bromhead yard operates at 14% and Darragh O'Keeffe mirrors that at 14% — a professional booking on a horse that has tightened 13% in the market without fanfare. The form string 1514-F shows a consistent winner at this level before the fall, and the GoingFit:~ on good ground is not a barrier, merely moderate. Crucially, Shaboozee (SR:129, 6/4 favourite) has drifted 10% from its opening price, carries the highest SR off 11-0 but DistFit:- over 2m180y and a 316-day absence are serious unknowns that the market appears to be pricing in belatedly; Wonderfulwonderful (SR:124) carries a MarkMv:+42 which is an extraordinary rise and the 2%-strike McConnell yard offers little confidence despite the market support. Each-way alternative: Wonderfulwonderful. Main danger: Shaboozee — Shaboozee's SR:129 is comfortably the highest in the field and GoingFit:+ on today's going is a genuine asset — if the 316-day absence has been managed well by the O'Brien yard (16% strike rate), the class edge could still be decisive despite the distance concern and drift.

Verify· #11219

Full result

Winner: Splashing Out (IRE) at SP 6/1. Mr Fox’s picks highlighted in gold.

1 Splashing Out Eoin Griffin · Peter Smithers(7) 10/1
2 Jabbar Gerard O'Leary · Alan O'Sullivan(5) 7/1
3 Ma Belle Etoile Fox #1 Henry De Bromhead · Darragh O'Keeffe 15/2
4 Tassarolo Denis Gerard Hogan · Daniel King 14/1
5 Shaboozee Fox #2 Joseph Patrick O'Brien · J J Slevin 7/4
6 Mode Avion Gordon Elliott · Josh Williamson(5) 7/1
7 Now So Jake David Harry Kelly · Sean Flanagan 16/1
— Wonderfulwonderful Fox #3 John C McConnell · Alex Harvey 4/1

Top 4 — how each finished

1 Ma Belle Etoile 7/1 🥉 3RD
2 Shaboozee 6/4 5TH
3 Wonderfulwonderful 9/2