Dewhurst winner Churchill was cut from 3 to 2/1 at BetVictor for the Guineas in the immediate aftermath of his fluent Newmarket success and is now 7/4 for the colts’ classic after sustained support on Sunday.
Windsor stage their penultimate card of the year on unseasonably fast ground at Windsor this afternoon and I like the look of Priors Brook (4.30) in the 10f handicap for Andrew Balding coming back from a three-month break.
The selection has a good record at the track and I hope to see Liam Keniry, who was on board for his last win back in June 2015, takes over in the plate. The 5-y-old is only 2lbs high than his last winning mark, is well drawn for one who can race up with the pace and the gelding has run well fresh in the past.
Nicarra (3.30) is 5lbs higher than when scoring over C&D back in August and the filly didn’t have the race run to suit at Sandown last time. There should be plenty of pace in the race which will suit the selection who has only had six career starts and is open to further improvement.
The ground will be drying out all the time at Salisbury and I hope Crimson Lake (2.50) can land the 7f maiden having run well on debut when fourth at Lingfied (turf) last month. The Frankel filly Icespire is fitted with a hood on debut and it is well-documented that the sire’s progeny are as quirky as talented. The betting will tell us what stable expectations are on debut but she is likely to be short enough in the market and the headgear suggests she is not without her foibles.
Estidhkaar (4.20) began last season finishing runner up in in the Greenham Stakes and only went off 6/1 for the Guineas where he disappointed behind Gleneagles. The colt has only run once since and that was when disappointing on very soft ground in the Gp 1 Prix Jacques Le Marois at Deauville last August.
The selection is entitled to be a bit rusty but he doesn’t look over-faced on his return to the track and connections look to have found an ideal opportunity. The younger Crazy Horse must give the Hannon horse 3lbs and he is another returning from a break. The winner of both juvenile starts the Gosden colt finished sixth to The Gurkha at Deauville in the French Guineas on his reappearance but must carry a 5lbs penalty for his Group 3 juvenile success at Newbury last October.
Argus is worth noting if attracting support in the finale but the lightly-raced The Otmoor Poet (5.20) gets the vote stepping up to 1m 6f for the first time having run well in defeat at Goodwood last time. The Alan King/Hollie Doyle trainer/jockey combination finished second in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket at the weekend and they can go one better in a competitive finale.
At Yarmouth, with Paul Hanagan at Salisbury, Dane O’Neill gets the leg up on Ekhtiyaar (2.10) and the juvenile can go one better than on debut when finishing second over C&D. The winner ran a terrific race off a mark of 81 at York on Saturday and, granted normal improvement, the Varian colt can go one better. One concern would be the form of the Varian yard at present.
Any number of expensive newcomers in the two divisions of the Mile maiden but Wolf Country (2.40) has valuable experience having finished in mid-division in what appeared at the time a decent race at Doncaster on debut. The form hasn’t stood up but with the run under his belt he should know exactly what is needed this afternoon.
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