Alex Hammond looks ahead to the Good Friday action at Lingfield, with Second Thought considered a banker bet as he looks to repeat last year's success.
All eyes on Lingfield this weekend – how excited are you about All-Weather Finals Day?
I'm really looking forward to Finals Day. It’s now in its fifth year and is an established finale to the winter flat racing calendar. I think it’s appropriate to have a championship day to wrap up the winter season, it rewards the horses, jockeys, trainers, staff and owners for their hard work in the bleakest months and for consistently patronising the all-weather meetings. The quality has improved year on year and like last season, I'm lucky enough to be presenting the show on At The Races.
Second Thought is a warm favourite for the Mile – is he your idea of the winner?
I had a good look at the card over the weekend and have to say, Second Thought jumped out at me as being my banker. There is so much to recommend him, not least the fact he’s trained by William Haggas, who started his turf season with a bang on Saturday with the runaway win of Addeybb in the Lincoln at Doncaster. Haggas is extraordinary in that his strike rate remains consistently high throughout the year on the turf and artificial surfaces and those impressive figures rarely wane. Over the past five years Haggas' strike rate on the all-weather at Lingfield is an impressive 28%. So the trainer ticks all the boxes. Second Thought isn't doing too badly either, he is unbeaten on the all-weather in six outings including in the 3YO Championships (6f) on this card 12 months ago. He was given a nice mid-winter break and came back with a win at Wolverhampton in the Lady Wulfruna Stakes earlier this month, which is expected to have brought him on. He’s only had the one run over a mile, but that was also a winning one and it looked well within his range. The bookies aren't falling over themselves with his ante-post price (5/4 with Sky Bet), but anything better than odds-on looks an attractive bet.
What about Kimberella in the Sprint – what are the chances of him recording back-to-back wins?
Kimberella has an obvious chance of landing this for the second year running, but he faces some tough opposition. If you fancy him, don't be too despondent that he could only finish sixth at Wolverhampton on his final start coming into this, things didn't go his way there and he can be excused that finishing position. His trainer Richard Fahey has a good record at this meeting and I can't see any reason why he shouldn't be feeling confident coming into this. However, there are a couple of interesting rivals including Kachy, who heads the market at 5/2 with Sky Bet. Tom Dascombe's five-year-old comes here off the back of two wins on the all-weather, both over this course and distance. They have been his only starts on an artificial surface. He has some really decent turf form, notably finishing second in the Group One Commonwealth Cup to Quiet Reflection two seasons ago. He also has the beating of a few of these when he won a fast track qualifier here at beginning of February including Kimberella (short-head), he had to overcome a wide (11) draw there, so it made it a particularly good performance. He’s been kept for this since and will be a big danger to the admirable 8 year-old Kimberella. I haven’t event mentioned Gifted Master yet! Another that comes into the mix for Hugo Palmer.
Corinthia Knight is short for the three-year-old final – should he be?
Corinthia Knight 6/4 favourite with Sky Bet and a bit like Second Thought, that may not end up looking too stingy. He hails from the Archie Watson stable and the Lambourn handler is in red hot form at the moment. This horse has taken to the all-weather like a duck to water, with all six of his career wins coming away from the turf. He seems versatile and uncomplicated and is thriving at the moment and whilst he’s not my banker, he should be in the thick of it.
Master The World is among the market leaders for the middle-distance championships – who do you like in here?
This is an interesting race because it features the first two past the post in last month’s Winter Derby, which is run over this same course and distance (10 furlongs). I say the first two past the post because Mr Owen was the 'winner' that day, but was demoted to second by the stewards after causing interference to Master The World who was awarded the race. It looked like the correct decision because Mr Owen lugged badly to his right in the closing stages and bumped Master The World whose momentum was affected at a crucial stage. At the time of writing though it’s so tight that Sky Bet can’t separate the pair at the head of the market and have thrown Victory Bond into the mix to further complicate matters; the trio are 7/2 co-favourites. This is a tricky race and I’d be inclined to back Jeremy Noseda’s Abe Lincoln each-way. He is currently a 10/1 shot and has some very smart form in the past including finishing second in the Britannia Handicap at Royal Ascot in 2016. It should be a cracking conclusion to the card.
What else catches your eye at the meeting?
Earlier in the afternoon Red Verdon (3/1 with Sky Bet) catches my eye as he tackles two miles for the first time in the Marathon. Ed Dunlop does well with this type of horse (remember Red Cadeaux who ran in the same colours?) and harbours long-range Melbourne Cup plans if he copes with the extra distance. The five-year-old won here over 12 furlongs very comfortably last time out in mid-February and he has a decent record on the all-weather. He looks up to it and it’s worth remembering he was sixth in the Derby and fourth in the Irish Derby, he was also a leading contender for the St Leger, although he never ran in the final Classic of the season after an early end to his three-year-old season which culminated with a runner-up spot in the Goup One Grand Prix de Paris in July. So, plenty of opportunities to back some winners on the card and there should be a real buzz to the day. You can catch all seven races with me on At The Races, Sky channel 415, hopefully see you there.