Newcastle (AW) 5:15 Result

Hear The Drums is a lightly-raced 3yo carrying the highest OR (55) in the field and showing improving, progressive form figures (1-0871) with a recent win in there and a fair effort last time. He's from a strong Fahey academy with a claiming rider taking a useful 3lb off, which helps him under a workable weight. His profile - still fresh at 3yo racing on the all-weather - suggests more improvement to come compared to the older, more exposed handicappers around him like Book Of Life and Mercurius Power, who are both consistent but capped by longstanding marks and have already shown their hand many times over. Book Of Life (OR 54) is the obvious market player with solid recent placed form and course experience, but he's an established, fully-exposed sort with a ceiling, and the piece of headgear (blinkers) hasn't sparked a step forward recently. Mercurius Power is similarly capped and stepping up in trip range issues persist. The mares/fillies in the race (Sassy Glory, Elettaria, Soda) are behind on official ratings and look to be there but not the biggest threats up in class/weight. Hear The Drums' scope for optional improvement, top rating, and the fact he's already shown a win in this sort of grade make him the standout on chance-vs-price grounds - he should be sent off around the head of market but represents that rare case of a genuinely progressive, best-in-class-on-figures runner rather than a false-favourite. I'm happy to back him as the most convincing win chance in a moderate Class 6 heat.