Andrew Asquith provides an overview of the key things to note on Friday.
Three points of interest
Good Show in better form than recent form figures imply
The Colliers Business Rates Experts Handicap (14:55) might not be the strongest handicap and with that in mind the Andrew Balding-trained Good Show looks overpriced.
He’s now a six-year-old, but a lightly-raced one, and he won a mile and a half handicap for Keith Dalgliesh at Hamilton in 2023. That form worked out well and, though he seemingly hasn’t been the easiest to train since, he’s shown that he remains with all of his ability intact in two starts for this yard following a long lay-off.
Good Show shaped as if he was in need of the run over this trip at Goodwood on his return from two years off the track and he caught the eye in the Mallard at Doncaster last time, but he simply found that sharper test inadequate.
This return to two miles will suit him well, while likely softer ground conditions won’t bother him, in fact, they will help bring his stamina into play. The handicapper has dropped him 2lb since Doncaster, which leaves him 4lb below his last winning mark, and he remains a stayer to be positive about.
Push The Limit remains a smart prospect
Push The Limit may have only won once this season, but he’s developed into a smart performer, and is well up to this step up in grade in the BetMGM Noel Murless Stakes (16:05) at Ascot.
He finished runner-up to a couple of other unexposed three-year-olds on his first two starts back and justified good support in the style of an exciting colt on his handicap debut at Glorious Goodwood, relishing the step up in trip and overcoming adversity to win with something to spare.
Push The Limit was again well found in the betting when finishing runner-up in a mile and a half handicap at this course last time, but again was unlucky to bump into a thriving type who is set to run in a Group 3 here on Saturday.
He was probably given too much to do in contrast to the winner on that occasion, never able to get on terms but staying on all the way to the line and producing a career-best effort in the process. That performance was good enough to win a listed contest and given the way he shapes and the stamina in his pedigree this even bigger test of stamina can unlock further progress.
Brosay can complete a hat-trick
The BetMGM Handicap (16:40) at Ascot will be the most competitive handicap that Brosay has contested, but he’s clearly thriving at present, and he’s still on a good mark.
He has shown improved form since being fitted with blinkers and moving back up to six furlongs, resuming winning ways taking on his elders for the first time at Windsor in August, and progressing another chunk when following up over this course and distance four weeks ago.
That was a decisive win up against some useful performers, coming with a strong run down the outside of the far-side group and well on top in the final furlong, producing a smart timefigure in the process.
Another 6lb rise in the weights puts him on a career-high mark, but he strikes as a horse who has even more to offer in his current vein of form, and he seems sure to launch another bold bid in his hat-trick attempt.
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