Tony McFadden provides an overview of the key things to note on Saturday.
Mc Loven can take advantage of drop in grade
A drop in trip and drop in grade both look like positives for Mc Loven in the five-furlong handicap (14:00) at Lingfield and this habitual front runner could take some pegging back from stall 1.
His losing sequence stands at 15 and stretches back to July 2024, but he's been cut some slack by the handicapper and is 7 lb below his last winning mark, while he's 5 lb below the mark he competed off when third behind a couple of subsequent winners over this course and distance in November.
That was in a better-quality contest than the one he contests on Saturday, which marks his first foray into 0-70 company, and that form places him 3 lb clear at the head of Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings.
He has been below that sort of level on his last few starts but shaped better than the result would suggest in a six-furlong handicap last time when failing to sustain his effort having set a strong pace.
Stiff test to suit last year's winner Saladins Son
Conditions look sure to be testing at Wincanton - if the track survives a morning inspection - and stamina will be a premium on heavy ground. Saladins Son, who is bidding to follow up last year's win in the three-mile-one-furlong handicap chase (16:00), is one horse who ought to be suited by the stern examination of stamina. He was pulled up on his chasing debut at Ffos Las last season but got back on track in this event 12 months ago, jumping well in the main at the head of affairs and looking the likely winner from a long way out.
He then followed up over the same course and distance a few weeks later, coming home a long way clear of the only other finisher after he was left in control three out.
Saladins Son has come up short despite running creditably on both starts this season, but he shaped better than the bare result would suggest when fourth in the Tommy Whittle at Haydock last time, paying the price for trying to match strides with the winner.
Both Haydock runs were on ground described as good to soft by Timeform, whereas last year's wins at Wincanton were on soft going. The strong-staying Saladins Son should cope well with the return to more testing conditions at Wincanton and will also benefit from the marked drop in grade.
Well-bred Inspired taken to end Aisling Oscar's unbeaten run
Aisling Oscar has been a remarkable success story on the all-weather this season and equalled a modern-day record when registering his eighth consecutive handicap victory at Southwell last week.
Only two of those eight wins were achieved by more than a length, and that has enabled Aisling Oscar to keep ahead of the handicapper. He is naturally entitled to plenty of respect in the mile handicap (17:55) at Newcastle, back at the venue where he achieved his first seven wins for Adrian Keatley, though a couple of others look to hold stronger claims on this occasion.
It's a tightly-knit handicap but Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings are narrowly headed by Inspired on his handicap debut. He was a beaten odds-on favourite over this course and distance when bidding to back up an impressive success over the same track and trip, but time may prove that he faced a difficult task trying to concede 7 lb to a useful prospect from a powerful stable.
Inspired looks fairly treated based on that bare form - he was 11 lengths clear of the third - but his classy pedigree offers hope there could still be more to come. The 300,000 guineas purchase is by leading sire Dubawi out of the smart mare Worth Waiting whose career highlight came when landing the Group 2 Dahlia Stakes.
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