Betfred Handicap (Heritage Handicap)

Blinkers turned things around for him last year, as he won twice at Newbury (6f/7f) before his runaway success in the Ayr Gold Cup; ran well for third in the Group 3 Abernant over C&D last month but he was able to dictate the pace and it's likely he will have to work harder to dominate today.

Won on good to firm on debut but all RPRs in excess of 100 on turf have come with 'soft' in the going description; promising return four weeks ago but he'll need to take a step forward; stable won this in 2021 and 2024.

Fine record at the track and she made a pleasing return to action when third of 13 behind More Thunder over C&D at the Craven meeting; the rain that arrived before that race would have been a major negative for her so it was encouraging to see her travel as strongly as she did back from a 207-day layoff; should be more potent on today's quicker surface; contender.

Smart 2yo who found life tough in his 3yo campaign; sold out of Eve Johnson Houghton's stable last autumn for 40,000gns and gelded; finished behind a few of these in the C&D handicap won by More Thunder at the Craven meeting but he shaped with a good bit more promise than a near-8l defeat might suggest; a sounder surface can help and although he'll be 3lb lower in the future, a much better effort would be no surprise for a yard going well.

Only midfield at Newbury off this mark three weeks ago (6f, good); peak turf efforts on soft/heavy and others bring more compelling claims.