Sam King returns with three selections on a busy Wednesday including a horse that really caught the eye for an in-form yard last-time-out.
There are few hotter trainers in the country at that moment than Jack Jones. The young Hamilton Road-based handler has saddled four winners from his last eight runners and five from his last fifteen at Lingfield.
It's to the Surrey venue we head for our first selection with Silver Screen surely overpriced in the Download The Bresbet App Handicap at 4.25. Recent form figures of 525476 probably don't look all that appealing but she really caught the eye at Wolverhampton last time. It paid to be positioned towards the fore in that contest and Harry Davies had little chance of that once his mount was slowly away. She travelled sweetly under the talented claimer and was arguably going best with two furlongs to run but had to sit and suffer as the gaps failed to appear. The daughter of Lope De Vega still had plenty to do with a furlong to run but stayed on well once in the clear and produced the quickest final furlong of her nine rivals by some margin.
Stall nine will likely see her dropped in once more but there are a handful of horses in here that like to get on with it and this will almost certainly be run at a truer gallop. Market support would definitely enhance confidence but at the current prices, she looks a decent each-way bet having been dropped 1lb for her latest effort.
Selection: Silver Screen – General 13/2
Kempton hosts a seven-race all-weather card this evening with some competitive handicap action to get stuck into. The booking of James Doyle on King Of Ithaca in the Unibet More Extra Place Races Handicap at 7.00 catches the eye, but he's been well-found in the market after a pleasing stable debut and it could pay to take a chance on Crazy Crackers at a nice each-way price.
Market support behind Ivan Furtardo's handicap debutant would be an obvious plus and it's interesting he has shortened a touch in the early morning markets.
His latest run at Thirsk was a touch disappointing but his two initial efforts showed enough promise to suggest he could be competitive off an opening mark of 65. The form of his debut fifth on soft ground at Doncaster (7f) definitely catches the eye at this level with the second-placed horse now-rated 99, the third-placed horse now-rated 87, and the fourth-placed horse now-rated 80.
I expect apprentice Elle-May Croot to make plenty of use of him from a good draw in stall four and there could easily be more to come from this gelded son of Cracksman stepping up to a mile for the first time.
Selection: Crazy Crackers – General 16/1
All five horses in the Garden Stirling Burnet Portobello Cup Handicap at Musselburgh (3.30) this afternoon arrive in decent form but I'm expecting Baez to stretch her winning run to three.
The Jim Goldie-trained runner has progressed nicely since upped to these staying trips and showed a tremendous attitude to fend off a well-handicapped rival over two miles and half a furlong at York last time. The runner-up that day subsequently scored by a staggering twenty-seven lengths to give the form a boost, whilst the fourth-placed horse has also scored at Haydock since.
A 6lb rise in the weights for that recent York success will demand more but she looks to be going the right way and this tactically versatile filly can continue the winning sequence.
Selection: Baez – General 9/4
