Fran Berry column including History Writer at Sandown
Fran Berry looks ahead to his weekend rides at Sandown and Lingfield and expects History Writer to give a good account up to 10 furlongs.
It was nice to sign off with a winner before taking a few days off as Colonel Fran opened his account for Mick Quinn at Yarmouth last weekend.
The rain that fell during the day was definitely a help to him and it was good to get his head in front. Given how he enjoyed the conditions I'd say there should be a bit more to come from him looking ahead to the autumn.
On the same card I rode a couple of promising fillies for William Haggas and I'd say Mubtasimah is definitely a name to note.
She was slowly away and quite green in the run but got going late on for fourth and wasn't beaten far at all. She should improve a lot for the experience and could be a progressive type.
Looking ahead to my rides at Sandown and I'm happy to be back on Across The Sea in the Read Silvestre De Sousa At 188Bet Nursery Handicap.
I won on her at Ffos Las in the middle of August and she was clearly quite well handicapped.
She's gone up 7lb but is a well-bred daughter of Dubawi and should continue to progress with racing. It's just on the soft side of good at Sandown and easy ground suited last time, while being at the top of the weights in a nursery is never such a bad thing.
I've got a busy Saturday to look forward to and start with Rio Ronaldo in the 188Bet Extra Place Races Handicap.
He's a bit of a funny customer at times and I rode him for the first time at Windsor recently when he wasn't really at his best.
He does run well at Sandown though as he likes the stiff finish so I wouldn't be surprised to see him bounce back.
History Writer steps up to a mile and a quarter in the Best Odds Guaranteed At 188Bet Handicap. He won at this course on his penultimate start and you can put a line through his last run at Newmarket when he basically did the splits at the start.
We'd only gone a few strides and he came to a complete standstill so in the circumstances he ran really well to finish sixth, in what was a pretty hot handicap.
I think he's ready for this extra distance, he'll be better for it in my view, and he's definitely worth another chance to prove he's up to his revised mark of 92.
We're draw 12 of 12 which you'd probably not pick if you had the chance but I'll look to take my time on him anyway so hopefully it shouldn't cause much of an issue.
Dragons Voice has his first start for David Menuisier in the 188Bet Mobile Bet10 Get20 Handicap.
It's a shame that Philip Hide had to pack in training and I actually won on this horse last May. He's won three times more since then and lines up here on the back of a win at Kempton back in May. It'll be interesting to see how he goes.
Tomahawk Kid will need to show a return to form if he's going to play a leading role in the Read Silvestre De Sousa At 188Bet Handicap.
He won an amateur riders' race at Doncaster last October and while his comeback run was quite encouraging, he's not been great in two starts since.
It's onto Lingfield for Saturday evening and Sanam runs in the 188Bet Extra Place Races Handicap.
He had quite a productive time of things on the all-weather over the summer and could still have more to offer back on Polytrack after finishing down the field at Ffos Las.
Dance To Paris is an interesting one in the 188Bet Live Casino Handicap.
Lucy Wadham's filly has had a long time off but she's bred to get better with age and showed some smart form as a two-year-old.
She was only just beaten at Chelmsford last autumn and I wouldn't be surprised to see her acquit herself well here, for all she's obviously entitled to be fitter for the outing.
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