12:00 Sandown
Sunday 2 August 2020
All12:0012:3513:1013:4514:2014:5015:2015:55
Claygate Handicap
- 3YO plus | Class 5 | 5f 10y | Good (Good to Firm in places) | 12 Runners | Turf | Weighed In
- Off time: 12:02 | Winning time: 1m 1.43s
Cloth number
Odds
Horse A-Z
Show odds
Won back-to-back 5f races on the AW (Wolverhampton and Chelmsford) during June; found the combination of the subsequent weights rise, and a switch to 6f troublesome at Kempton; returns from a short and much deserved break.
C&D winner (July 2019); went close when just edged out by the Milton Bradley-trained Englishman on his penultimate start (Newmarket 6f, good); drops back in grade (from a Class 4) and is handicapped to have a say; thereabouts.
Sole win from 16 starts came on rattling fast ground at Bath (5f) in May 2019; badly out of sorts on the AW last November, and absent since (246 days); all hopes are pinned on wind surgery doing the necessary.
Has slipped down the weights since his last win on the AW in March 2019 (5f Chelmsford); finished fourth - just in front of Indian Raj - over C&D 17 days ago; useful 5lb claimer Marco Ghiani does the steering.
Acclamation filly (cost 200,000gns as a yearling); all downhill following a pleasing debut at Newmarket (6f, good to firm) in June 2018; switches to handicapping at a realistic level, albeit off a most worrying 599-day absence; look elsewhere.
More productive on the AW (9-62) than on turf (2-41); that said, he wasn't beaten too far (fourth) behind the re-opposing Lorna Cole at Windsor (5f, good to firm) latest; stablemate of fellow AW regular Solar Park.
Broke his duck in a Class 6 handicap at Windsor (5f, good) in June, but hasn't kicked on positively from his revised mark since; raced keenly (often his manner) when failing to last home over 6f at Newmarket recently.
Exploited a more favourable turf mark when winning over 5f at Windsor (good to firm) in June - Something Lucky fourth; not so effective since, including when turned over at a shade of odds-on in a five-runner affair at Chepstow.
Three-time AW winner (goes particularly well on Tapeta); hasn't raced on turf (0-3) since finishing a tailed-off last of six to Harry Hurricane at Windsor in August 2019; stablemate of Something Lucky.
Pacy type; hit the frame (held) at odds of 50-1 in a Nottingham maiden (6f, good to soft) in June 2019; hasn't achieved much since making the switch to handicap company, admittedly on the AW; hood newly-applied.
Ex-Clive Cox; 13-race maiden; no match for the winner Haveoneyerself when runner-up at Windsor (5f, good to firm) on his penultimate start; was very slowly away on good to soft ground at Leicester (5f) subsequently.
Somehow still remains a maiden (0-13) despite the handicapper showing leniency; however, does continue to knock firmly at the door and can't be criticised on that basis - was headed close home by 28-1 shot Heartstar at Bath (5½f, firm) last week.
Forecasts
King Robert (10/3), Indian Raj (4/1), Giovanni Tiepolo (11/2), Lorna Cole (13/2), Q Twenty Boy (7/1), Seneca Chief (9/1), Something Lucky (18/1), Thoughtfully (18/1), Mykindofsunshine (22/1), Saras Hope (28/1), Solar Park (28/1), Shining (40/1)
It's possible that Seneca Chief will return fresh and reinvigorated from a much deserved short break, but he's into Class 5 handicaps nowadays (from a career high mark of 71) and that most certainly poses a question or two to be answered. The frustratingly consistent maiden Q Twenty Boy will undoubtedly appreciate the projected sound racing surface - temperatures are forecast to be in the 30's this weekend - and he should be there or thereabouts, but the preferred option is the previous C&D winner INDIAN RAJ who is well-drawn in stall four, and has James Doyle aboard.
- Indian Raj
- Q Twenty Boy
- King Robert
Prize Money
1st: £3,493.002nd: £1,040.003rd: £519.004th: £260.00
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