The winter weather has returned to the UK this week and Friday’s Chepstow card faces a 7.30am inspection to see if racing can go ahead. There are no problems at the all-weather track at Lingfield So I’ve picked out a couple of horses that could provide us with some stake money for the weekend.
My first selection is Singular Quest in the maiden race at 2.00. The colt is a son of Dalakhani out of a mare by Singspiel so is entitled to be useful. He is trained by Ralph Beckett who certainly knows the time of day at these all-weather meetings and will be ridden by Hayley Turner.
Singular Quest ran green on his debut here over a mile but was noted running on into fifth place behind Awesome Power. He was stepped up to ten furlongs last time and was tucked in on the rail for much of the race. His jockey found himself shuffled back when the leaders quickened approaching the home turn and had to switch to the outside, eventually finishing strongly to take second.
The race was won by Monein who has since gone in again in the blue of Godolphin. The biggest danger may come from Sheikh Mohammed’s outfit again here with Prussian Blue and Sparring in opposition. The latter shaped well at Wolverhampton on his debut while Mark Johnston’s Champagne Ransom could also improve for her debut at the same track.
Following handicap “good things” is often regarded as the quick way to the poor house but it is difficult to argue with the claims of Le Rouquin in the 3.45 race. The gelding was very impressive when beating Courier by six lengths at Kempton last week and turns out again quickly under a 6lbs penalty. Michael Bell will obviously be anticipating a much stiffer penalty once the horse has been reassessed. He had been tried in a visor previously but the headgear was left off last time and he could be named the winner with a quarter of a mile to race.
The big danger is course winner Vejovis, a son of Fastnet Rock trained by Sir Mark Prescott. The cigar-smoking Newmarket handler is a dab hand at running up a sequence with his handicappers and it would be no surprise to see this one improve again. He was less impressive when winning over seven furlongs by two and three-quarter lengths but you never know how much jockey Luke Morris has up his sleeve.
Singular Quest 2.00 Lingfield @6-4 Betfair
Le Rouquin 3.45 Lingfield @2-1 Bet365
