Martin Dixon of The Horse Watchers gives his verdict on the team's two runners on Wednesday, plus reflects on a couple of recent victories.
Upcoming runners
Baldomero - 16:02 Southwell, Wednesday
He'd been quite busy through November, December and early-January and had a real hot spell of form then, looking as good as ever. He came back from his last run a bit stiff so Mick backed off him and gave him an easy month. He's just worked his way back to fitness and is probably going to improve a little bit for the run as he's not had all the buttons pressed at home. We expect him to probably need the run a little bit.
Intervention - 18:30 Kempton, Wednesday
He's in really good form - he seems to be moving well and enjoying his racing at the moment. He had a bit of a lull in form after his win at Lingfield in December, but on his last couple of starts he's been right back on his game. At Southwell recently he was taken back in the hope they would go faster than they did, so he ended up in a difficult position and couldn't make up that ground. But we felt he ran well to be beaten less than three lengths given the pace wasn't strong enough for him to get into the race from so far back. He's got a good record at Kempton; he's never won there but has run a lot of good races. He was only beaten in a photo-finish on his penultimate outing and everything looks set up nicely for him. He's on a competitive mark without being thrown in, and I think he'll be ridden more positively. Hopefully he breaks well and can get into a fairly handy position from stall 7, and if he does I would expect him to be right there at the finish.
Recent winners
Arklow Lad
It was a good performance from Arklow Lad to win at Chelmsford on his first start for us - the time of the race was very good (replay below). He's gone up 7 lb to a mark of 82, so they haven't missed him in terms of giving him the rise in the weights that he probably deserves, but it gives us an avenue to get into some races with better prize-money. We'll be focusing on trying to land some better prize-money with him going forward. We hope and expect he can go higher and progress his way through the sprint handicap ranks.
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Profit Street
He surprised everyone with how easily he won at Lingfield (replay below) but he's now won his last couple of starts over seven furlongs and it appears that is his optimum trip. He's been put up 10 lb, which is probably a bit excessive given it was a small-field race and not the most competitive, but thankfully we had him entered at Lingfield on Thursday. He's still in a 0-65, which he's not going to be eligible for going forward, and is under a 5 lb penalty so is officially 5 lb 'well-in'. He's two from two over the course and distance and should have a big chance on Thursday. Then we've got to try getting two more runs in before Good Friday to try making the most of the points available in the all-weather bonus scheme.
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