Good ground at Fakenham for today’s six-race card and I hope to see Makety (1.30) follow up her recent Worcester chase success from a 5lbs higher mark. The mare – 11/4 with Boylesports – won her sole point and has improved since she made the switch to the larger obstacles finishing runner up on debut before going one better last time.
The Oliver Sherwood stable have been a bit hit and miss in recent weeks, but they did have a winner earlier in the month. The Henderson mare Barbados Blue heads the market on her chase debut and is bred to make her mark over fences, but she will do well to give a stone to the selection.
Atholl Street (2.40) comes from the family of Kicking King, but he looks more pace than stamina although he will have to settle better if he is to fulfil his undoubted potential. A winner of two of his three starts over hurdles, he was sent off 7/4 favourite for the Dovecote at Kempton in February but pulled his chance away.
The selection – 11/8 with MansionBet – wears the famous Trevor Hemmings’ colours, and it would be nice to see them back in the winners’ enclosure. We may not see them for much longer.
At Taunton Milton Harris has his string in good heart and there are races to be won with King’s Proctor off his current mark, but Soul Icon (3.05) is likely to get his own way in front and he is taken to land the hat-trick for Keiran Burke and amateur jockey Frederic Proctor.
There was little visibility at Exeter last week, but he came home 5L clear and a 7lbs penalty is unlikely to stop him if in the same mood. It may be significant that the 4-y-old is also entered in a race at Stratford on Thursday for which he would escape a penalty in this conditional/amateur jockeys’ contest. The selection is 11/10 at William Hill.
At Nottingham Buriram has been running consistently well in defeat all season and the only time he has been out of the money was at Glorious Goodwood when he palpably failed to get home over 2m 4f. That said he is often given too much to do but I hope to see Uber Cool (3.55) confirm Chester form with the Ralph Beckett horse on just 2lbs better terms for the 2L he was behind the selection back in May.
Jane Chapple-Hyam’s 7-y-old – 10/3 with 10Bet – remains 5lbs above that winning mark on the Roodeye, but he ran well at Ascot last time and goes on all ground. The stable remains in good form and David Egan scored on the selection on heavy ground at Haydock as a 3lbs apprentice.
I hope the switch to the all-weather will see Olympic Eagle (5.15 Kempton) travel better than was the case at Nottingham last time when he looked in need of an additional furlong over six furlongs on soft ground. The selection – 3s with William Hill – is out of 5f polytrack winner, is well drawn in stall six and represents the inform yard of Clive Cox.
