Tony McFadden provides an overview of the key things to note on the racing front on Friday.
Clive Cox newcomer catches the eye
Had you backed each of Clive Cox's debutants to £1 level stakes since the start of 2020 you would have had 38 winners from 269 bets at a respectable strike rate of 14.1% and turned a healthy profit of £36.38.
Cox has an interesting newcomer in the second division of the six-furlong novice (12:35) at Lingfield on Friday with Cupola.
Cupola has a speedy pedigree being by the yard's top-class sprinter Harry Angel and out of the useful mare Adorn who won a Kempton juvenile maiden before finishing fourth in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes.
Adorn has produced several winners, including three who reached a Timeform rating of at least 100, most notably the smart Ornate whose wins included the Dash at Epsom.
It would prove little surprise were Cupola to prove too sharp for her rivals and enhance her trainer's good record with newcomers.
Strong book of rides for Cobden at Doncaster
His boss Paul Nicholls doesn't have any runners on Friday but Harry Cobden has still managed to secure three good rides for a couple of in-form stables at Doncaster.
Two of Cobden's mounts are provided by Emma Lavelle whose record this year stands at six winners from 22 runners (27.3% strike rate), while another seven have finished placed to underline the wellbeing of the yard.
They start off in the opening maiden hurdle (12:25) with George's Lad who tops Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings based on the form he showed when runner-up at Huntingdon a few weeks ago. Timeform's reporter on that occasion noted 'he will be suited by longer trips' so the step up to this extended two miles and three furlongs promises to bring about a bigger effort.
Cobden and Lavelle also team up in the concluding bumper (15:48) with Times Are Green who was awarded Timeform's Horse In Focus Flag after putting in some good late work on his debut at Southwell last month. He can be expected to improve for that experience and the stiffer test of stamina on offer here, with Cobden taking over in the saddle from 3 lb claimer Joe Anderson.
Cobden's other mount, Scene One, tops Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings in the three-mile handicap chase (15:13). Scene One has run respectably to finish runner-up the last twice for Joshua Parker and Alice Stevens, shaping as if he'd benefit from a step back up in trip here. Scene One gets that stiffer test here and it could be significant that trainer Lucy Wadham has called upon the services of Cobden who has had only 17 rides (and four winners) for the yard previously.
All three of Cobden's mounts have been tipped in the Timeform verdicts which appear on Sporting Life racecards.
Gwennie May Jem a likely improver
Gwennie May Jem's performance on his handicap debut, when beaten around six lengths in third, was clearly a significant step up on what he had shown in maiden and novice hurdles when he had failed to get to within 20 lengths of the winners. But his Uttoxeter effort looks even more encouraging now given the subsequent performances of the first two home.
The winner, Crystal Glance, found only a subsequent winner too strong when beaten just a length off a 9 lb higher mark next time, while the runner-up, El Vigaro, went on to register a quickfire hat-trick.
Gwennie May Jem still has the Timeform small 'p' to show that he's a likely improver, particularly over this longer trip in the 13:28 at Doncaster, and he looks fairly treated running off the same mark as at Uttoxeter (he narrowly tops Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings).
It could also be worth noting that the Skeltons and the same owner struck last week with another lowly rated but unexposed handicapper in Gwennie May Star who showed improved form to get off the mark at Newcastle.
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