Friday 3rd February
ALBEN STAR and Capone go head-to-head in the conditions sprint at Wolverhampton (4.20pm) and my preference is for the former, who remains unexposed despite his defeat at Lingfield.
Richard Fahey’s lightly raced four-year-old ran a game race from a wide draw last time and has winning form on this surface, too. Granted, he would be 5lb better off with Capone in a handicap, but is open to enough improvement to progress past that consistent rival.
Mark Usher has been among the winners and there is definitely a little race in his three-year-old filly SONGBIRD BLUES, who re-appears in a weak seven-furlong handicap (5.20pm). She has posted two solid efforts in defeat at Lingfield over the same trip and can defy her lowly mark.
Mark Johnston, a trainer to follow in maidens in the coming weeks, has found a great opening for SCATTER DICE, whose debut second at Lingfield suggested she will be more effective over the longer trip in the all-age maiden there (4.05pm).
Dominic Fox’s 3lb claim means she will carry only 7st 11lbs and, as the only three-year-old filly in the line-up, receives a significant amount of weight from all of her rivals.
Saturday 4th February
The reliable Captain Dimitrios should again give his running in the opening division of the Blue Square Sprint Series (1.55pm) – he has only failed to make the frame once in seven starts at Lingfield and Matty Cosham’s 5lb claim puts him back on an appealing mark.
Similarly, another prominent racer Waabel is also entitled to be in the shake-up after bustling up the impressive Diamond Vine and Nubar Boy in last week’s round.
He can be hard to predict, however, so a better value alternative may be Christine Dunnett’s CAPTAIN RISK, who out-ran his odds over course and distance last week.
This ex-Marco Botti sprinter may have finished closer to Diamond Vine and company had jockey David Probert not dropped his whip at a crucial stage, but still wasn’t beaten far in fourth. That run, only his second back from a lay-off, should have put him spot on and a big run is on the cards in an arguably weaker race.
Ron Harris’s DIAMOND VINE, advised here when winning over course and distance last week, has the credentials to follow up in the second leg (2.25pm). The way he scored suggests he is a sprinter on the upgrade so it is unlikely that a 3lb rise will stand in his way.
Richard Hannon’s NUMERAL is another upwardly mobile individual who can make a winning return in the 3.00pm at Lingfield. He has the hat-trick seeking Prince Of Burma to beat but had that rival behind him when scoring over seven furlongs at Lingfield in December. A 5lb rise seems fair and the step up in trip could see him in an ever better light.
An uneven gallop didn’t help MOUNT ABORA‘s cause over a mile and a half at Wolverhampton last time but she remains open to improvement off her current mark and can get back into the winning groove at the West Midlands venue (3.45pm).
The step up to a mile and three-quarters looks sure to play to her strengths and the booking of Jamie Spencer is another plus.
