John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on Tuesday.
Three points of interest
The Trickster too smart for his elders?
The feature event on Musselburgh’s card is a nine-furlong handicap (15:00) in which a trio of three-year-olds take on four older rivals. Bubbles Wonky, a winner at Hamilton two starts ago and Individualism, a half-brother to Gold Cup winner Subjectivist, who was edged out at Beverley last week, have leading claims among the older runners.
But this can go to one of the three-year-olds, with The Trickster making most appeal for John & Sean Quinn. The Trickster won both his starts at two and has improved further with placed efforts in all three of his runs in handicaps this term. Last time he was a good third behind War Hawk at Epsom on Derby Day when shaping as though a first handicap success wasn’t far away.
His most interesting piece of form, though, came at Ascot in May when he kept on for third over a mile behind impressive winner Fearnot. That effort giving weight to the winner looks all the better now that Fearnot has finished a close third in the Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot. With that solid form behind him, John Smith’s Cup entry The Trickster looks the answer taking on his elders for the first time.
Uncle Dick back at beloved Brighton
Timeform’s ‘Horses For Courses’ Flag highlights horses who have a particularly good record at a certain track, and Uncle Dick’s flag is well-earned as he bids for another course-and-distance success in one of Brighton’s mile handicaps (15:40).
‘He’s an absolute legend’, said his trainer Eve Johnson Houghton, speaking last summer after Uncle Dick had won Brighton’s most valuable race, the Brighton Mile Challenge Handicap at odds of 28/1. ‘He’s won for all my apprentices either this year or last and just loves it at Brighton, he’s just a different horse there.’
Indeed, Uncle Dick won four times at Brighton all told last season, bringing his number of wins at the track to seven, all at a mile. So far this season, Uncle Dick has been operating below his best, but he had excuses at Goodwood last time when racing closer to the pace than ideal – he usually comes from further back and often starts slowly – in an apprentice race over a slightly longer trip.
But back over a course and distance where he excels and now 3 lb lower in the weights than for his last win in 2024, Uncle Dick heads the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings and has the ‘Jockey Uplift’ Flag, with recent Royal Ascot-winning jockey Charles Bishop on board.
Smart hurdler Hello Neighbour returns to Flat
Hello Neighbour was one of the leading Irish juvenile hurdlers over the winter and won graded contests at Leopardstown on his first two starts over hurdles, including the Grade 1 Spring Juvenile Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival. He then ran well in defeat in his two other starts, finishing sixth in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham and then third behind the Triumph one-two in the Champion Four Year Old Hurdle at Punchestown where Lulamba turned the tables on Poniros from Cheltenham.
Hello Neighbour’s fine efforts over hurdles were a continuation of the promising start he had made to his career for Gavin Cromwell on the Flat in the autumn. He beat a couple of Aidan O’Brien-trained rivals on his belated debut in a maiden at Navan in September and followed up in a minor event at Roscommon the following month when winning in good style by three lengths from Cheeky Wink, showing useful form.
Hello Neighbour returns to the Flat at the same track in the Lenebane Stakes (19:38), a listed contest where the step back up in trip should suit and with the hood retained that he’s been wearing over hurdles. Cheeky Wink is among his rivals again, but bigger threats this time could come from Hipop de Loire, who was fifth in last year’s Ebor on his first Flat start for Willie Mullins, and another returning to action, Purple Lily, who was third in the Blandford Stakes when last seen.
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