DONCASTER – SATURDAY
1:50 Portland Handicap
Embour (Pat Dobbs)
He’s a tough consistent horse who ran well enough at Sandown last time but a fast 5f on a flat track like this will help and he’s been in great form at home. It’s a tough race but I’m happy with him and he would have a great chance.
3:00 G2 Champagne Stakes
Threat (Pat Dobbs)
He won the Gimcrack in great style and it’s quite clear that he wants further so hopefully there will be even more improvement over this trip. He can get very wound up so we’ll do everything we can to help keep him relaxed in the preliminaries and he’s come out of York in very good form. Everyone knows how much I think of this colt and I’ll be very disappointed if he isn’t up to winning.
The hugely-promising THREAT claims his first Group-race success with victory in todays Gimcrack Stakes
He's now into 16/1 from 33/1 for next years 2000 Guineas..
Looks to be some horse for the Hannon team..
@RacingTV pic.twitter.com/yrYOmhgxiF
— The Winners Enclosure (@TWEnclosure) August 23, 2019
4:10 Nursery
Wild Thunder (Pat Dobbs)
Amazingly, in a three runner race, he managed to find plenty of trouble at Chelmsford last time so I’m happy to draw a line through that and move on! He’s a good moving horse so will like the ground and I expect him to put up a good show.
Forbidden Land (Andrea Atzeni)
He was doing all his best work at the end last time so the step up to a mile is a big plus and his mark looks fair. I’m surprised he hasn’t managed to win yet but hopefully he can rectify that in this.
4:45 Handicap
Qaysar (Pat Dobbs)
He’s been a real star for us this season and has managed to work his way up to a mark of 104 but he’s ultra-consistent and has a fantastic chance here. Any rain would aid his cause even more.
LINGFIELD
2:15 Handicap
Beechwood James (Thore Hammer Hansen)
He stays really well, will like the track and gets in off a nice low weight. He’s no world-beater but is more than capable of picking up a race or two and this looks a good opportunity.
3:25 Handicap
Balata Bay (Mark Crehan)
He’s a tough little horse who probably should have won more than he has because he’s pretty consistent and has a good attitude. This is a trip and Mark’s 7lbs claim is a big plus too. It’s not a great race so hopefully, he can run well.
CHELMSFORD
2:45 Handicap
War Glory (Sean Levey)
He stays really well, will like the track and gets in off a nice low weight. He’s no world-beater but is more than capable of picking up a race or two and this looks a good opportunity.
3:20 Handicap
In The Cove (Rossa Ryan)
All his wins have come on the All-Weather and he scored nicely in first-time blinkers last time so hopefully, they’ll have the same effect again. It’s a competitive little race but he’s in great form and I expect him to go very close.
BATH
2:35 Nursery
Willa (Fergus Sweeney)
We’re going up to a mile and putting a set of blinkers on to help her concentrate. This is a very weak race so I’ll be disappointed if she isn’t capable of troubling the judge
4:20 Handicap
Amorously (Fergus Sweeney)
She won over course and distance last time and is currently in a rich vein for form. The Handicapper has put her up to 79 so she has to pull out a little bit more but I’m happy with her and hopefully she can run a huge race.
5:30 Handicap
Good Luck Fox (Fergus Sweeney)
He hasn’t won for a while and we’ve tried all sorts of headgear but ultimately he’s becoming quite frustrating and on recent form, it would be foolish of me to recommend him. That said, this a quite a poor race.
