Our man identifies three horses who will relish testing conditions on British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday.
Trueshan – Long Distance Cup
Trueshan has a particularly strong record on ground softer than good and he handles even more testing conditions remarkably well, too.
He has won the last three renewals of the Long Distance Cup, scoring in gutsy fashion by a neck from the reopposing Coltrane 12 months ago.
Trueshan didn’t start this season in such good form, failing to land the odds on his return in a listed event and Nottingham and comprehensively beaten by Coltrane in the Sagaro Stakes over this course and distance in May.
He return to form when winning the Doncaster Cup two starts back, looking in fine fettle beforehand and getting his head back in front despite doing quite a bit wrong, fighting his rider for a long way off a steady pace before being sent to the front.
Trueshan didn’t have as much to beat in the Prix du Cadran last time, but that success has set him up nicely for his pursuit of a four-timer in the Long Distance Cup and conditions have come in his favour.
Term Of Endearment – Fillies & Mares Stakes
Term Of Endearment will need to improve further now moving into Group 1 company for the first time, but likely ground conditions will be very much in her favour and this year’s Fillies & Mares Stakes does have an open look to it.
She had run well in testing ground previously and proved better than ever when recording a first pattern success in a heavy-ground Give Thanks Stakes at Cork last time, settled in mid-division before moving into contention early in the straight, and finding plenty to lead under pressure under two furlongs out and kept up to her work to record a comfortable success.
That performance fully entitles her to have a crack at this prize and, under conditions which are sure to place the emphasis on stamina, Term Of Endearment has to come into the reckoning, especially at her current odds of around 14/1.
Migration – Balmoral Handicap
Migration is now a seven-year-old, but he doesn’t actually have that many miles on the clock for his age, and he has proven on numerous occasions he is a classy operator, especially when getting his favoured soft or heavy ground.
The Balmoral is a typically competitive end-of-season handicap and winning it from a BHA mark of 113 will be no mean feat, but it was hard not to be impressed by his victory in a heavy-ground Lincoln at Doncaster on his return earlier in the season.
By doing so he recorded one of the best performances Timeform have seen in that prestigious handicap in recent years, always travelling fluently and weaving his way through rivals before quickening clear in the final furlong to win in ready fashion.
Migration is now 6 lb higher in the weights and his rider is unable to claim 3 lb as he did there, but he has likely been aimed at this race since disappointing in pattern company in May, and he can boast a very positive record when fresh.
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