15:45 Hamilton

Tuesday 3 July 2018

All14:1514:4515:1515:4516:1516:4517:15

Almada Mile Handicap

Off time: 15:46 | Winning time: 1m 46.25s

(6)

Carbon Dating¹¹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-0| J: T P O'Shea| T: R J Osborne| OR: 99| C

25/1

Course winner (1m3f) in July 2016 for John Patrick Shanahan who returned from a spell in the UAE at Royal Ascot last month (12th of 17 in the Class 2 Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes); suitability of this shorter trip is a concern.

Form: 849660

(3)

Mythical Madness^v¹⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 9-7| J: D Tudhope| T: D O'Meara| OR: 92| D

6/1

Plenty of near misses, including at Epsom early last month (1m+ soft), but no win for over 12 months. Various excuses lately (restless in stalls, slowly away etc); handicapper has him in his grasp.

Form: 929266

(9)

Whatsthemessage³

Age: 4| Weight: 9-2| J: P Makin| T: K Dalgleish| OR: 87| CD

8/1

Keeping strong company and holding her form well but she's had plenty of racing over the past 10-days, with this being her third start in that period; unbeaten in two starts at this track in 2017 (1m+-1m1f).

Form: 04-0854

(7)

Ventura Knight¹²

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: P J McDonald| T: C & M Johnston| OR: 94| D

9/2

No joy in the Britannia Handicap at Royal Ascot last month (29th of 30), but was a 1m Doncaster winner prior to that and races from a 3lb higher mark here on identical good to firm ground.

Form: 1-47910

(4)

Balestra^p¹⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 9-0| J: D Allan| T: T D Easterby| OR: 85| D

9/4

Left Charles Hills for 48,000 gns in November 2017 and made a flying start to life with this trainer winning back-to-back 7f races at Catterick and Haydock; ¾L runner up in first-time cheekpieces to First Flight latest (1m, Ayr).

Form: 105-112

(2)

First Flight¹⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 8-11| J: T Eaves| T: B Ellison| OR: 82| D

9/2

Claimed for 6,000 gns after winning at Wolverhampton and stepped up in grade massively to score on stable debut at Ayr recently (1m, good), beating Balestra by ¾L; up 5lb but still well handicapped on old form; trainer also saddles Baraweez.

Form: 9-46611

(1)

Lucky Mistake⁵⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 8-10| J: D E Sheehy⁽⁵⁾| T: A Keatley| OR: 81| BF| D

14/1

9lb above his last winning mark (1m soft), but has held his form well early season in Ireland, including when failing by a head over 1m2f (heavy) at Clonmel in May; fairly risky on a fast surface.

Form: 12-0428

(8)

Regulator¹⁰

Age: 3| Weight: 8-9| J: P Hanagan| T: R A Fahey| OR: 89

8/1

Ayr winner as a juvenile (6f good) who has kept decent company in novice events in the early part of this year (notably when runner up to Dayking at Catterick); finished third on handicap bow at Ayr latest and is upped in trip today.

Form: 257-323

Non-Runners

(5)

Baraweez³⁸

Weight: 9-13| Age: 8

T: B Ellison J: Ben Robinson

Forecasts

Balestra (9/4), Baraweez (7/2), Ventura Knight (9/2), First Flight (9/2), Mythical Madness (6/1), Whatsthemessage (8/1), Regulator (8/1), Lucky Mistake (14/1), Carbon Dating (25/1)

A strong race for a Tuesday in Scotland, so plaudits to the Hamilton Park executive for offering up this decent prize. Malton handler Brian Ellison holds a strong hand with his pair of last time out winners BARAWEEZ and First Flight. The latter named was a very shrewd claim and he had ¾L in hand of Balestra (4lb better off today) when winning on stable debut at Ayr the weekend before last whereas the selection remains handily weighted despite a 5lb rise for his May Chester victory. Others worthy of mention with place prospects at the very least include the extremely busy of late Whatsthemessage.