Nothing went right’ for Lingfield runner-up last year

Tom Dascombe’s six-year-old has looked better than ever in his last two races, clearly benefiting from a wind operation.

Having broken two track records recently, Kachy is set to go off a warm favourite against 10 rivals.

His owner David Lowe said: “Kachy has been in great form throughout the winter and he has won both of his races impressively. He won both races in more impressive manner than he did with his wins leading up to last year’s All-Weather Finals Day.

“I just think, particularly this year, he is much more relaxed. We feel like he has grown up a lot more this season. Last year, he could get a little fractious in his races, but this year he has been much more laid-back.

“He probably had his worst start ever in last year’s All-Weather Sprint, when he veered to the right from the stalls and was caught out wide from then on. If he had enjoyed a better start from the stall, he would’ve won.

“In the end, we set the race up for City Light. He deserved to win, and we’re taking nothing away from him – but nothing went right for us last year.”

Richard Fahey takes Kachy on with George Bowen, a winner last time out.

“He qualified for Finals Day on his latest outing – we had to get three runs into him, and luckily we did that in time,” said Fahey.

“He won very nicely at Kempton the other day, and I hope he can go well in the Sprint. Kachy will take a fair bit of beating, but George Bowen will hopefully be thereabouts.”

Hugo Palmer has booked Ryan Moore for second-favourite Encrypted.

“He will have to be at the top of his game to beat Kachy, but it is worth having a go and hopefully he could develop into a Wokingham horse in time,” said Palmer.

The sole Irish runner on the card is David Marnane’s Alfredo Arcano.

“He won nicely at Dundalk last time and is very smart around a bend on the all-weather,” said Marnane.

“Lingfield has been the plan since Dundalk, and I think the track could suit him well. Kachy will be hard to beat, but you can’t be afraid of one horse.

“Alfredo Arcano ran well in Dubai earlier this year, when he was beaten a couple of short heads on the opening night. But he got a stone bruise two weeks after that, and we were on the back foot over there after that.

“He is a big, powerful horse. He is smart out of the gates, he travels and he stays well now. He seems to relax a bit better these days.”

Fahey and Palmer also bother have runners in the Ladbrokes 3 Year Old Final, with Charming Kid representing the Malton handler and James Street going for the latter.

Fahey said of Charming Kid: “He has plenty of speed and is a five or six-furlong horse.

“He won well at Dundalk last time out back in January, and his form is pretty solid.”

Palmer said of his runner: “He was second at Lingfield two starts ago when not entirely handling the course. He wasn’t beaten far and there is more to come from him.”

Ben Haslam had a choice of races for his improver Castle Hill Cassie, and opted for the Ladbrokes Fillies’ And Mares’ race.

“She won nicely at Wolverhampton last time and has been an absolute superstar for us,” he said.

“She is in foal to Zoustar and was covered in the first week in March, which is very exciting.

“She may have one more run afterwards, but we will see what happens on Finals Day first.”

Andrew Balding has started the turf season in great form and runs Crossing The Line.

He said: “Crossing The Line is in good form and goes to Finals Day with a decent chance.

“She is a nice filly and won well at Kempton last time out. She has winning form at Lingfield, and it is good to support the Finals Day initiative.

“We will see how she gets on there, and then the plan would be to look at Listed races on the turf.”