DAILY RACING PREVIEW BY ANDY HOLDING
FRIDAY APRIL 17
1.45 AYR
A case can be made for any of the first three in the market based on their profiles but neither of the trio have never set foot on today’s track, so the safest option may be to look towards TRIPLE CROWN TED and LANCE LES DES, who have raced here five times between them.
The former is responsible for four of the quintet and even though his latest effort at the Scottish venue was arguably his most disappointing, his overall record is pretty solid.
Prior to his short-priced defeat a month ago, the six-year-old had beaten Lance Les Des in a war of attrition at Kelso and with today’s conditions likely to be fairly testing on account of overnight rain, he will be in his element more than most.
The latter would have probably won in a few more strides at the Borders venue but he soon made amends when facing today’s C&D for the first time a month later.
In scoring with a bit up his sleeve that day, he lowered the colours of the subsequent winner Largy Go, and with his opening mark of 109 seen as not too penal, the locally-trained gelding can follow in the footsteps of stable companion Dubai Days, who landed this prize several years ago.
TRIPLE CROWN TED – ½ point each-way@7-1 (four places)
LANCE LES DES – ½ point each-way@13-2 (four places)
4.05 AYR
Came From Nowhere was always likely to catch the attention of punters and bookmakers alike based on his profile and unlucky loss at Newbury last time out but at the same time, he hails from a stable struggling for form in recent times (33 runners and 47 days without a winner), rendering him a risky proposition at relatively short odds.
A Perfect Day looks a perfectly plausible alternative based on his solid effort behind subsequent Aintree winner Wellington Arch at Uttoxeter last time out but the better value option could well turn out to be SANILAM, who has seemingly turned the corner since upped in trip and fitted with the hood.
Sandy Thomson’s gelding was good enough to account for the useful Wilstar at the minimum trip over today’s course earlier in the season but for some reason, he failed to sparkle when returning to the same C&D next time out.
Since then, however, the son of Malinas has gone on to record two victories over 2m4f and with the latest of those performances coming in the final of the Night Nurse series for novices, he has a decent chance of landing this prize for a stable that has captured this prize twice in recent times.
SANILAM – ½ point each-way@8-1 (four places)