As is usual on bank holidays, it’s a case of quantity over quality on Monday with Leicester offering the most attractive racing on the day. The opening apprentice handicap will see Corsican Caper dominate the market, and Kevin Frost’s gelding has obvious claims under a penalty for his win at Haydock on Saturday. That was his fourth win of the year and he’s still able to compete at 0-60 level so he’s clearly well placed here.
Corsican Caper ought to go well if handling the quick turnaround but I’m inclined to take a chance on the ex-Czech horse Valegro – not to be confused by the dressage champion of the same name – who has a patchy profile but could well be better than a mark of 60 if Ali Stronge has managed to get him fit after an absence.
VALEGRO is a Highland Reel half-brother to dual Sagaro Stakes winner Coltrane so is clearly bred to excel at this trip and beyond. He had just one two runs as a three-year-old for Vaclav Luka, and was claimed after finishing second at Compiegne in July 2022. His only run to date for new connections came last March when well held in a Kempton maiden, and the handicapper has had little to work on in giving him a mark.
The Compiegne effort suggests that an opening perch of 60 could be lenient, although that requires his Kempton effort to be ignored. I’m happy to do that, and Stronge’s flat runners at Leicester have recorded figures of 212553 in the last couple of years.
2.30 Leicester
Born A Rebel landed a significant late gamble on her reappearance at Yarmouth last month and the Patrick Owens-trained filly is taken to follow up against some well-bred but modest rivals.
Strong at the finish when justifying a late plunge on what was her handicap bow, Born A Rebel finds herself 5lb higher now, but should have more to offer and her strength in the finish when winning is encouraging, as is the booking of the excellent Saffie Osborne.
There’s a couple of interest in Leicester’s finale, for differing reasons, but I’ll make the case for both and then we’ll see where we are with prices this morning.
The easier case of the two is STINTINO SUNSET, who is generally consistent, and has a Leicester record of 2321, that second coming on heavy ground back in late 2022, and he’ll not be bothered by any rain that falls between now and racetime. Luke Catton takes a useful 5lb off his back and there’s no reason for the pairing not to go close again.
Khangai’s case is a little harder to make not least because he’s only won one of his nineteen starts, but he did little wrong on his only start here when third to the odds-on Gallimimus in a similar event to this around this time last year, and he clearly needed his first start at Chepstow last month after a five-month break. He ran well in first-time blinkers at Chelmsford last December and maybe the reapplication of those could see him produce a better effort.
He’ll have no problem with trip or ground and is worth considering too.
Dunnett is known for throwing the odd huge-priced winner in at her local track and hopefully Primrose Maid might be the latest in that line after three runs this spring that have seen her beat a total of two horses home.
However, it isn’t all bad news, as you can find excuses for all three of those starts and she was an easy enough winner over this C&D in soft ground last September. She’d run to that form on her previous start too, so it wasn’t a total one-off, and although she’s 5lb out of the handicap today, which clearly makes life harder, I’d not be surprised if she ran a better race with the hood reapplied and collected some place money at a big price.
Preview posted 0916 BST on 27/05/24
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