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Devondale Novices' Limited Handicap Steeple Chase (gbb Race)

15:12 Newton Abbot Fri 18 Sep 2026 2m4f216y Class 3 Good 3 runners

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Mr Fox’s call

Thickthorn Tom silks

Thickthorn Tom

SPECULATIVE Advised 11/8 Est. 45%

🥈 2ND

Mr Fox says

Thickthorn Tom (SR 130, 11/8) holds the best Saturday Rating in the field and carries 11-2lb less than Intosomethinggood (11-10 vs 10-8), a material weight advantage that amplifies the SR edge. The form string 121112 is outstanding — consistent, recent, and progressive — with the last run just 14 days ago confirming peak fitness. Course:W2P2 at Newton Abbot is a decisive specialist signal on a track where familiarity counts, and the Skelton yard (22% strike rate from 2,514 runners) with Harry Skelton aboard (27% from 1,621) is as powerful a training-jockey combination as exists in British jumping. Dropping a class (ClassMv:↓1) makes the MarkMv:+10 rise manageable, and both DistFit and GoingFit are confirmed positives. Each-way alternative: Intosomethinggood. Main danger: Intosomethinggood — Despite the fitness concern from 188 days off, a class drop (ClassMv:↓1) combined with confirmed DistFit+ and GoingFit+ means the favourite could bounce back to the winning form that closed out its sequence, particularly if the layoff is training-related and deliberate from the Twiston-Davies yard.

Verify· #18382

Full result

Winner: Intosomethinggood (GB) at SP 6/5F. Mr Fox’s picks highlighted in gold.

  1. 1 Intosomethinggood silks Intosomethinggood Fox #2 Nigel & Willy Twiston-Davies · Sam Twiston-Davies 10/11
  2. 2 Thickthorn Tom silks Thickthorn Tom Fox #1 Dan Skelton · Harry Skelton 15/8
  3. 3 It's A Breeze silks It's A Breeze Fox #3 Paul Nicholls · Paddy Hanlon(5) 9/2

Top 4 — how each finished

  1. 1 Thickthorn Tom silks Thickthorn Tom 11/8 🥈 2ND
  2. 2 Intosomethinggood silks Intosomethinggood 5/4 SP 6/5F 🏆 WON
  3. 3 It's A Breeze silks It's A Breeze 9/2 🥉 3RD