Ladbrokes Home Of The Odds Boost Handicap

Off time: 13:00 | Winning time: 1m 25.82s

(1)

Spirit Warning¹⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 9-12| J: Joshua Bryan⁽³⁾| T: A M Balding| OR: 77

7/4

Made a promising start in handicap company when chasing home subsequent Newcastle scorer Alkaamel; always doing enough when getting off the mark at Kempton (1m) latest; dropped in trip and 2lb higher.

Form: 725-21

(2)

Port of Leith⁵²

Age: 3| Weight: 9-7| J: J Fanning| T: C & M Johnston| OR: 72| CD

6/1

Made a winning AW debut when beating the odds-on shot Uncle Jerry by ¾L over C&D in mid-November; disappointing when forced wide at Kempton next time; respected off a mark which is 2lb higher than his last winning one.

Form: 330910-

(5)

Hypnos²⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 9-1| J: J P Spencer| T: D M Simcock| OR: 66

3/1

Improved effort (gelded) on his AW debut over C&D last month when finishing second to Black Medick (beaten ¾L) - the third and fourth placed horses have won since; competes off an untouched mark (66).

Form: 8487-2

(4)

Lieutenant Conde²²

Age: 3| Weight: 8-13| J: Charlie Bennett| T: H Morrison| OR: 64

2/1

Lightly-raced gelding; shaped as if in need of a step up in trip when getting going too late at Wolverhampton (5f) latest; makes his handicap debut off a perfectly fair looking opening mark.

Form: 74-3

Non-Runners

(3)

Hua Hin¹⁰

Weight: 8-12| Age: 3

T: R Hannon J: Thore Hammer-Hansen

Forecasts

Spirit Warning (7/4), Lieutenant Conde (2/1), Hypnos (3/1), Port of Leith (6/1), Hua Hin (10/1)

A small field but a competitive contest with the majority of those declared almost certain to prove capable of winning more races. Both Port Of Leith and Hypnos have previous Lingfield experience, with the former racing off a mark which is just 2lb above his last winning perch. Lieutenant Conde clearly found the trip on the sharp side at Wolverhampton (5f) latest and doesn't appear to be overburdened by his opening mark. However, the vote goes to the top-weight SPIRIT WARNING. He's improved since sent handicapping by trainer Andrew Balding and the form of his penultimate start has been handsomely franked since by Alkaamel.