Away From The Spotlight: Horses to follow this week

By David Massey

Horse Racing

Mon March 30, 2026 · 2h ago

David Massey maps out a few early thoughts on the week's racing action as the weather doesn't look like taking much of an upturn.

Winners last week included The Italian Fox (9/1) and Handin Manypockets (10/1)

I’m in the middle of a couple of quiet weeks which is no bad thing, as it gives me time to have a first look at Aintree over the next few days. Seen one long-range forecast giving all manner of precipitation over the three days and temperatures certainly seems to drop away at the start of next week, so the winter coat isn’t getting packed away just yet.

Speaking of which, it was much needed at Uttoxeter on Saturday. “Cold is just an illusion”, said one lad to his mate as we all meandered into the track, the sort of thing David Blaine might have mumbled fifteen years ago before locking himself into an Electrolux chest freezer for twelve hours to try and prove the point. Well, if the cold was an illusion, maybe the hail was just a mirage, the biting wind a figment of my imagination. There was nothing magical about it, unless you think of the day in terms of a Tommy Cooper trick. Hail, rain, rain, hail.

My first outing of the week will be Southwell on Wednesday (and my second on Thursday, actually, you know the two-day soup drill) but before we get there we've got Ludlow to look at Monday.

Smallish fields and quick ground is the order of the day, and my first bet could well be A Little Something in the Mares Handicap chase at 14:57. She’s no star, is Emma Lavelle’s seven-year-old, but she won’t have to be to win this, and for all she pulled up on her chase debut in heavy ground at Leicester, she popped away nicely on the front until a bad mistake cost her any chance and her rider was quick to pull her up, taking no chances.

That was her first start for the best part of nine months and you’d like to think she might come on for it; the standard set by Kit Coty is not an impenetrable one, and she would only need a small step forward to take this.

https://ads.skybet.com/redirect.aspx?pid=17678472&lpid=16&bid=1487

Annsam might be worth another chance in the 15:57. He unseated at Kempton last Monday but it wasn’t really his fault, Gustavian’s tumble in front of him causing the unseat, and Ludlow is very much a happy hunting ground for Annsam, form figures here reading 21131.

Sean Bowen retains the ride and he could take some pegging back if Sean Bowen gets him in a rhythm.

There’s a couple of 0-100’s that finish off the card at Newcastle on Tuesday and Lady Phoebe, from the in-form Adam Nicol yard, makes a bit of appeal in the first of them at 17:00. I think the key to her might be genuinely good ground, which she may well get here; a strong wind late Sunday and Monday looks likely at Gosforth Park, and it’ll continue to dry out.

A winner over 1m5f at Musselburgh on the Flat (on good ground), Lady Phoebe's initial handicap mark was too high but it’s more workable now, and it wasn’t a total write-off here last time either, she travelled nicely enough into it. Hopefully better ground should mean she can maintain a better finishing effort today.

Nicol might have the answer in a very weak-looking finale at 17:35 too if he can get Travis Wheatley to settle a bit better. He bowled along happily on the front end in a much more competitive event than this at Musselburgh last time, trading a fraction of his pre-race price but fell in a bit of a hole late on, finishing either but far from disgraced. This is a much, much easier contest and some headgear is now tried; if it does the trick, he might lead these a merry dance off the front.

For all it’s Southwell Wednesday I don’t fancy a lot at this stage, but Moon Hunter in the 16:30 might get a second look if he gets declared. I was convinced he was going to make up into a 140-rated chaser at one point when he was with Henry Daly, but laziness crept into his work and he went backwards very quickly. Sarah Humphrey is having a try with him now and after a couple of poor efforts in the winter, he did run better in blinkers at Plumpton last time, sticking at it for an 8¾ length third to Valadon. A step up to three miles ought to help, and it’s more a case of whether he fancies it in the blinkers again.

There’s a few in the last at 17:20 that I’ve given chances to in the past so it’s a case of which one I go with again, if any. I think I can give Briery Butterfly one more try, as she should be spot on for fitness now and is coming to hand on her two runs this spring; she looks a thorough stayer and this test should suit.

Over at Wincanton, Anthony Honeyball’s handicap debutant Matthias looks one to be interested in in the 14:50. He showed plenty of ability in bumpers back in 2023, including a second to the now-useful chaser Quebecois, but we didn’t see him again after that until last December when he looked like he’d retained his ability with a third to Modern Man at Chepstow. Two further runs have seen him handed a fair mark to kick off with, and this step back up in trip will definitely suit.

All Night Parking (15:50) is another “Massey Special”, as my writing partner Mr Rory Delargy will have it (although I’ll remind him the last one, Walk The Plank, won, before he starts) as he has form figures of FPFP in the last year or so, but there were definite signs of ability in 2024 when he finished midfield in a couple of maiden/novice hurdles, staying on to finish within hailing distance of Yellow Car, who went on to finish fourth in the Albert Bartlett that season, on one occasion. Twice a point-to-point winner on good ground, conditions will suit him here and he should be a huge price. I’ll be taking a chance on him if that’s the case.

READ: Our man on why Dan Skelton stands on the cusp of first trainers' title

Thursday’s Chepstow card looks half-decent so here’s hoping it holds up. Put a line through Ben Solo’s Cheltenham effort last time; he’s best from the front, yet was held up there and that did not see him to best advantage. He goes well here and could easily bounce back under conditions that suit in the handicap chase at 15:30.

They’ll probably be playing for places if The Italian Fox turns up under a penalty in the 16:40, but it’s worth mentioning Dessie Haze again, as she came close to landing a bit of place money at a huge price at Exeter a couple of weeks ago. Badly outpaced turning in, she stayed on again in the latter stages and I’d say it was only her fitness that held her back; this is her third run back from a break so she should be getting towards full fitness, you’d think, and having hit the frame here at Chepstow before, the track won’t be an issue.

Published at 0855 BST on 30/03/26

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.

Like what you've read?