Timeform provides an overview of the key things to note on Saturday.
Three points of interest
Respond looks a smart prospect
It’s another good renewal of the Virgin Bet A Good Bet Rosebury Handicap (14:42) at Kempton, but Respond looks the one open to the most improvement being the only runner to still have the Timeform ‘small p’ attached to his rating.
He wasn’t beaten far in some competitive three-year-old handicaps after opening his account last season, and he’s continued to improve on the all-weather lately, showing the benefit of his reappearance run when bolting up over a mile and a quarter at Chelmsford earlier this month.
Respond was very well backed, starting the 2/1-on favourite, and he produced a performance of a potentially smart type, the switch to front-running tactics enabling him to settle better and he readily drew clear in the final furlong.
The handicapper has raised him 8lb and he is in a stronger race now, but he’s still unexposed both on the all-weather and this sort of trip, and he looks destined for bigger and better things.
La Botte looks a handicap blot
It looks another cracking edition of the William Hill Lincoln Handicap (15:32) in which two unexposed four-year-olds who are likely on the path to pattern company are vying for favouritism.
It is the Harry Eustace-trained La Botte who tops Timeform weight-adjusted ratings on 120p, closely followed by Eternal Force, who sits on 119p. Both look exciting prospects, but preference is for the former, who is in a similar mould to stablemate Docklands.
La Botte was arguably unlucky not to win the Britannia at Royal Ascot last year, encountering trouble in-running on more than once occasion and still only beaten a neck.
He could hardly have caught the eye in a bigger way on his return in the trial for this at Wolverhampton a few weeks ago, too, so much so it was surprising that the stewards didn’t get involved.
The return to a straight mile at a more galloping track will see him in a much better light, this race sure to suit his run style much better, and he’s expected to prove himself a pattern-class horse masquerading in a handicap before going on to bigger targets at Royal Ascot.
‘Horse In Focus’ Mao Shang Wong ahead of his mark
The big-field William Hill NRMB On The Grand National Apprentice Handicap (16:40) may not be as competitive as the numbers suggest as the David O’Meara-trained Mao Shang Wong looks particularly well treated.
He had been shaping up well in races which were not run to suit before opening his account in style over a mile and a quarter at Newcastle recently, appreciating the drop into 0-65 company, but still doing well to win in the manner he did given that race wasn’t truly run, either.
His win coincided with a return to form for the O’Meara yard who had gone through a quiet spell and the manner in which he drew clear in the closing stages suggests he was well ahead of his mark.
Mao Shang Wong was given the ‘Horse In Focus’ Flag as a result, highlighting he’s one to keep on the right side, and a subsequent 5lb rise in the weights likely underestimates him. He’s at least 2lb clear on Timeform weight-adjusted ratings and, still unexposed at this trip, he likely has even more to offer.
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