Mark Howard's series continues with five dark horses to follow this season from the William Haggas yard.
Cheveley Park Stud owned fillies invariably improve with age and it will be disappointing if the lightly raced FINALISE isn’t better than her current mark of 86.
A homebred daughter of Masar, she is a half-sister to the stable’s Group 3 winner Bashkirova and hails from a family who improve with age. Runner-up a couple of times at Ffos Las and Windsor over ten furlongs last summer, she improved when stepped up in distance thereafter. A wide margin winner from eight opponents over a mile and a half at Kempton in August, she stretched a dozen lengths clear of Gnomon (won twice since) who is rated 85.
Despite running well on her handicap debut at Goodwood (1m 6f : Good/Soft) in late September off a mark of 84, she didn’t look totally at home on the track. Two and a half lengths behind the Michael Bell trained Dancingwithmyself, the winner finished second in the Queen’s Cup at Musselburgh on Easter Saturday. While black type is very much the long-term aim, the four year old can win a valuable staying handicap en-route.
