Andrew Asquith has two selections at Doncaster in his latest Sunday View column.
Sunday View: Sunday September 13
1pt win Adrestia in the 13:25 Doncaster at 7/1 (Ladbrokes, Betvictor, Boylesports, Coral)
1pt win Langstone in the 14:30 Doncaster at 7/1 (General)
The opening Land of Lights Festival At Gullivers Handicap looks wide open, but the Simon & Ed Crisford-trained ADRESTIA is becoming too well handicapped to ignore now.
She was keeping much better company than this last season, a winner of the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes at Royal Ascot no less, and she was beaten only a nose in another competitive handicap at Glorious Goodwood from a mark of 97.
After that she finished runner-up to smart Shagraan in a Listed event at Beverley and, while she hasn’t quite reached those heights so far this year, she ran a very promising race in the same Glorious Goodwood handicap she was narrowly beaten 12 months ago last time.
That was a clear step back in the right direction from what turned out to be a poor draw, breaking high but finishing in the centre of the track having had to switch on multiple occasions for a run.
What was promising is how well she travelled, shaping like a horse who is on her way back to form, and finishing with plenty of running left at the line.
Adrestia would have almost certainly finished much closer to the principals given the breaks and the handicapper has dropped her 2lb in the weights since. This represents a drop in class for her and, with a strong pace promised, everything looks in her favour.
The addition of first-time cheekpieces can sharpen her up further and if she builds on her latest run as expected she’ll be very competitive.
The Betfred City of Doncaster Handicap contains plenty of quality and you have to respect the favourite, but LANGSTONE is a stamp of a horse physically and one I think has the potential to surpass all of these.
He was too green to do himself justice on his sole start as a juvenile, but that experience clearly helped him as he opened his account in tenacious fashion over this course and distance on his return in March.
Langstone beat a couple of useful types on that occasion and had no problem following up under a penalty at Kempton next time, where he did well to overcome some trouble in running and had more in hand than the winning margin implies.
He improved another chunk on his handicap debut in the rerouted Silver Bowl at Carlisle, beaten only by his faster improving stablemate Blue Courvoisier who has franked the form since.
Langstone finished down the field in the Britannia at Royal Ascot last time, but he didn’t seem to let himself down properly trying ground firmer than good for the first time. As mentioned previously, he’s a big, heavy-topped gelding, so it is little surprise that firm ground isn’t to his liking, and he should find this easier surface much more to his liking.
A mark of 92 is unlikely to be beyond him given his profile, very much the type to go on progressing as he matures, and his form stacks up well for a yard who continue to go along nicely.
Preview posted at 16:30 BST on 12/09/2026
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