It’s a busy Monday full of action Sky Sports Racing, with Bath and Windsor hosting domestic events. Elliot David takes you through his five episodes…
Star Anthem – 2.50 Bath
In this minimum travel time Maiden Stakes competition, it seems you’ll want to keep your tracker on as a promising group of two-year-olds attempt to reach a Royal Ascot marker.
In reality it could be Clive Cox star anthem, The stable is aiming for a third win in four overtimes of this race. The son of Starspangledbanner has the advantage of a recent run, having narrowly escaped at Newbury on April 19, and this form puts him in good stead as he should take all the punches here.
Rest assured that someone who can achieve his measure is someone worthy of mention, and the like Win And Red sand It’s worth paying attention to when betting. The former is a son of Blue Point who made 250,000gns as a yearling and comes from a likely source of juvenile winners in Richard Hannon. The in-form Ed Walker saddles the colt Too Darn Hot Red sand On the smart side there are three victorious half-siblings, two of whom won with their racing bow.
Symbol of Hope – 3.25 Bath
John and Rhys Flint send course specialists Symbol of hope looking for his third successive win in this 5f handicap competition. Although both of these wins are thanks to former trainer Grace Harris, the six-year-old is undoubtedly giving his all to this venue and with the same win mark of 58, great success is expected.
Nineteen starts at Bath produced five wins, two seconds and four thirds, and with four of those wins coming in sixth grade, he will certainly appreciate today’s drop in grade. In fact, his only poor performances at Bath have come on unfavorably soft ground or outside a grade of 65+, which has proven overwhelming in the past.
Everything seems to be pointing towards a big run today, now that he’s returned to his “home turf”, putting a winning mark of 58 behind him and recruiting a capable 7lb contender to help his cause. The odds of around 13/2 (at the time of writing) are very attractive as long as the ground doesn’t get too soft for him.
Lady Dreamer – 4.20 Windsor
Tom Ward’s four-year-old filly Lady Dreamer is interesting in the typically competitive 6f handicap as Links opt to re-apply the tongue band and visor combination she has worn in each of her two previous wins.
Her reappearance at Kempton on April 17 was auspicious after returning from wind surgery and a 151-day break, while rider Hollie Doyle completed a patient ride. Although she had plenty of her plate with three furlongs to go, she finished well in fifth place, just two lengths behind her renewed opponent Big R It was a similar story last year when a promising reappearance from Kempton was followed by a good second place at Windsor, which was a significant improvement for the first round of the season and I would expect a similar result.
Soft ground would be a question for her so far as she has only run on good to soft ground or better, but I hope she can get away with it after running well even with cuts in the ground at Carlisle last season is.
Theworldsnotenough – 4.55 Windsor
I will be following another of Tom Ward’s youngsters in this 1m handicap competition as a filly by Inns Of Court The world is Not Enough wants to continue her track and distance victory on April 22nd. I thought she was valuable for more than just the narrow winning margin on the day and a £1 handicap increase might undervalue her.
Out of her dam, Fondled, she is the half-sister of a host of winners and performers, including the useful KeyStroke, and is clearly bred to improve beyond her current rating. Although she has not yet raced on this soft ground, Inns Of Court’s progeny have so far run well with cuts in the ground, and many members of the family have run well on similar surfaces.
Dappled Light – 5.45 Bath
Adrian Wintle’s four-year-old was a big standout in my tracker on his stable debut at Wolverhampton on March 11 and at first glance his fifth race at Dunstall Park in April might look disappointing. However, I can forgive a sub-par performance as rider Billy Loughnane reported he got stuck left-handed, and he is of interest as Finley Marsh is back on board and has now switched to turf on a more galloping track.
His win in Ireland for former trainer John Joseph Murphy came in similar conditions to those he faces here and the yard has an excellent record on the track. Wintle operates with a hit rate of around 20 percent on course handicaps and a healthy stake profit, and this runner can give you a good run for your money at a good bang for your buck.
Watch every race from Bath and Windsor live on Sky Sports Racing.