Alan Thomson, the former Racing Editor at the Daily Record, puts up five tips at Lingfield and Ascot on Saturday. View selections below.
PUPPET MASTER (3.00) can extend Aidan O’Brien’s hot streak by bagging the William Hill Derby Trial at Lingfield.
O’Brien mopped up all three Classic dress rehearsals at Chester this week and Puppet Master should have derived plenty of benefit from an encouraging fourth on reappearance in the Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown at the end of March.
Puppet Master ran fourth to Wimbledon Hawkeye in last autumn’s Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket and is preferred to unexposed stable companion Stay True, comfortable winner of a Leopardstown maiden in early April.
O’Brien should mop up the opening three-runner Oaks Trial with Giselle but his filly is trading at very prohibitive odds.
Elsewhere on an intriguing card, JABAARA (3.35), back racing against her own sex, is taken to land the Group 3 William Hill Chartwell Stakes.
Roger Varian’s four-year-old was twice denied a clear run when sent off favourite at Wolverhampton in early March and she demonstrated her ability to handle quick conditions on turf when landing a Listed event at Carlisle last June.
Jabaara was later edged out in a Group 3 affair at Glorious Goodwood and is fancied to tame chief market rival Cathedral.
A three-year-old scooped this prize 12 months ago and Ralph Beckett’s Cathedral is the sole representative of that generation in this afternoon’s line-up.
She romped home on Lingfield’s Polytrack before giving Irish raider Merrily a scare in a Group 3 event at Newmarket in the autumn.
VICE PRESIDENT (2.25), with a run under his belt last month, can step up to the plate in the 1m 3f William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap.
The four-year-old was having his first start for Richard Hughes when probably finding two miles overstretching his reserves (sixth) behind useful Moon Over Miami at Newbury and this seems a more suitable trip.
Vice President won a Leopardstown maiden last summer for previous handler Aidan O’Brien and the assessor has dropped him 2lb for that Newbury effort. Ryan Moore is an eye-catching booking.
Likely favourite Candyman Stan, a confirmed front-runner, stretched five lengths clear at Brighton four weeks ago and Andrew Balding’s gelding has been raised 7lb in a slightly stronger contest.
King’s Code won by seven lengths at Pontefract in mid-April but subsequently was well beaten off a higher mark at Epsom.
Power Of Destiny scored on the all-weather at Kempton back in November and needs to prove his adaptability now switched to grass.
There’s an eight-race programme at Ascot where TURQUINO (3.15) can extend his unbeaten run in the 1m 4f handicap.
Oisin Murphy takes the reins on Andrew Balding’s late-developing four-year-old, winner of both all-weather career starts in March.
His cosy victory over Don Simon last time was given a boost when that horse was beaten ahead by an 82-rated rival at Chelmsford City.
Chief market rival Fireblade, on the back of five frustrating placed efforts, finally poked his head in front at Leicester and William Buick is in the saddle.
Gary Moore’s Kotari won this contest last year and will strip sharper for his seasonal return 18 days ago when down the field at Epsom.
Buick has picked up the mount on Ed Dunlop’s KOKANEE (3.50) in the 1m 2f three-year-old handicap.
The gelding stepped up on his juvenile performances when scoring with a bit in hand at Beverley in Apil and is nestling at the foot of the weights.
The Murphy-Balding team combine with Chartwell Jack, while Ralph Beckett re-introduces last season’s LIngfield all-weather winner Cape Breton.
Seven runners head to post but Betfred and bet365 are offering three places to each-way backers.
Tally Ho
Alan
Check out all todays Horse Racing Results and claim free bets.
NB. All odds shown are correct at time of publishing and are subject to change.
