John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on Wednesday.
Sunflower blooming back with former yard
Kingston Sunflower has won both her starts over hurdles this autumn since rejoining Fergal O’Brien, and she can complete a hat-trick under trainer’s daughter Fern in the mares’ handicap hurdle at Ludlow (13:50).
A likeable front-runner, Kingston Sunflower had been off the track for over a year when returning on the Flat in September, and with that run under her belt, she was a six-length winner of a conditional jockeys’ race over today’s course and distance the following month, earning her the ‘Horses For Courses’ flag. She then followed up from a 7 lb higher mark at Huntingdon last time, going with her usual zest in front and coming home two and a quarter lengths clear of Caelan.
Kingston Sunflower also ran up a quick hat-trick as a novice in her first spell with O’Brien in the autumn of 2022, including another win at Ludlow. Clearly in fine heart again back with her former stable, she looks capable of defying another 4 lb rise in the weights to win again.
Ryan Moore can return with a winner at Lingfield
Ryan Moore has been out of action for over three months with a stress fracture to his femur, with his last winners coming at York’s Ebor meeting in August. But he returns with five booked rides at Lingfield on Wednesday and can be successful on his first day back with Morrophore in the fillies’ handicap (14:00) that’s a trial for Lingfield’s Winter Oaks.
A lightly-raced four-year-old, Morrophore has missed a good chunk of the year herself, storming clear to win a fillies’ handicap at Ascot in May by nearly five lengths with a near-smart effort but then absent until October. While she was a beaten favourite for a similar contest at Newmarket, she looked decidedly rusty after five months off but was also left in a hopeless position the way the race developed following a slow start. In a race run with a strong tailwind, the first two occupied those positions throughout and Morrophore could only pass a few rivals late on to take fourth without being given a remotely hard time.
Having Moore in the saddle, Morrophore has the ‘Jockey Uplift’ flag, while her stable is in good form too with John & Thady Gosden having the ‘Hot Trainer’ flag. Also heading the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings, Morrophore can prove herself much better than her latest start back on an all-weather surface, having won at Wolverhampton last season.
Veteran Does He Know reappears on a good mark
Clear pick of the weights in Haydock’s veterans' handicap chase (14:08) is Does He Know who is 6 lb ahead of the next horse in the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings. He’s also making his reappearance at a time when Kim Bailey & Mat Nicholls have their string in good form, earning the ‘Hot Trainer’ flag.
Does He Know’s last win came in a punishing renewal of the Grimthorpe Handicap Chase at Doncaster in 2024 when he carried 12-0 to victory against only one other finisher after the rest of the field pulled up in very testing conditions. While he ran some creditable races at Cheltenham and Doncaster in the first half of his campaign last season, he ended it with some lesser efforts, including a remote third of four finishers when last seen at Cheltenham in April.
However, the handicapper has dropped Does He Know 6 lb since then which makes him look potentially well treated, so he can make a successful return in an open-looking contest.
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