Trackside Live: Horses to Follow from Doncaster, Warwick and Uttoxeter

Rlasthope (Tony Coyle & Kaine Wood)

March 28, Doncaster - Brocklesby Stakes

It feels churlish to not find a horse to put up out of the first two-year-old race of the season and whilst many will have had their eyes caught by the promising run of Dance A Jig, who stumbled when short of room, Rlasthope was the horse to catch the eye.

He was instantly dismissed in the preliminaries, having come into the pre-parade on his toes and sweating, overcome with the excitement of his debut run. With more professional candidates on offer, it was easy to think he might end up finishing down the field but the son of Rajasinghe surprised; making eye-catching headway before receiving a bump that put him off stride. A fifth was a credible effort and there looks to be more to come from this gelding.

He’s probably not a Group performer but breeding and connections will make him an attractive price somewhere - one for the notebook.

Three No Trumps (Ed Dunlop)

March 28, Doncaster - William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Maiden Stakes

The eye kept being taken by Three No Trumps in the pre-parade. Small and angular, the son of Make Believe could have been described as delicate and there was a feeling that there may be further physical progression to come.

He’d surprised many when out-running 100/1 odds at Kempton on debut in November to finish third and it’s difficult to see how the colt could ever be a 100/1 shot - he certainly doesn’t look like one. A half-brother to Black Type performers Familliarity (best seen over 1m4f) and Emma Emilleen, the colt’s breeding suggested the step up in distance would suit and he ran fairly well to finish fifth of nine.

Ed Dunlop has been struggling for flat winners in recent weeks and it feels like there may be a better time to find this colt a winning opportunity; especially if he does continue to fill out and grow, as anticipated. Give him another month or two and reassess; he’s better than his starting prices would suggest.

Full Force Gale (Tom George)

March 26, Warwick - Best Odds Guaranteed at Betano Novices Handicap Chase

Winner El Rojo Grande is never going to be a paddock pick, bless him - he’s a massive unit and always, and I mean always, looks like he’s carrying a lot of condition (as was remarked upon by trainer Katy Price when chatting to racecourse announcer Robert Bellamy afterwards “looking at him... you wonder where the cart is…”) but it doesn’t stop him winning.

Bear that in mind if ever you come across him then, but one of the picks of the paddock was runner-up Full Force Gale, who was making his chase debut here and made plenty of appeal on looks; you could see why they didn’t spend long over hurdles with him.

He loomed up in the straight, looking the winner at one stage (traded odds-on in the run) but his jumping let him down late and he had to settle for second. All the same, a good run behind a horse that knows how to win races, and a matter of time before he sorts his feet out and gets off the mark. Attractive, he’ll do better.

Caughtinyourtrance (Jimmy Moffatt)

March 28, Uttoxeter - Support The UK Sepsis Trust Novices Handicap Chase

I really liked Caughtinyourtrance in the paddock beforehand, an old-fashioned type of chaser that the trainer does well with, and he looked well in his coat too.

He really appears to be getting the hang of chasing if this is anything to go by, third to a couple of improving and in-form sorts and he found the drop back in trip against him here too, doing all of his best work late after becoming outpaced at the top of the straight, and it doesn’t take a genius to work out, given connections, that Cartmel this summer might well be on the agenda.

Keep him in mind once he steps back up in trip, there's a race or two in him.

More from Trackside

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• Handicappers to follow from Cheltenham
• Novices to follow from Cheltenham
• Horses to Follow from Kelso, Newbury and Plumpton
• Horses to Follow from Huntingdon, Southwell, Kempton & Fontwell
• Horses to Follow from Ascot and Haydock
• Horses to follow from Newbury and Warwick
• Horses to Follow from Trials Day at Cheltenham