ROGER Charlton’s Splendorinthegrass should take plenty of beating in the Buck Inn Thornton Watlass Maiden Stakes at Thirsk.
Charlton very rarely sends his runners this far north, so when he does the hint should be taken.
This son of Selkirk has shown promise in two Newbury contests, form which would usually be enough to see him involved at most other tracks.
However, it is the second of those races that really catches the eye as he was beaten less than seven lengths into fifth by Sir Michael Stoute’s Evasive in the Group Three Horris Hill Stakes. This should be something of a penalty kick.
It may be worth chancing Henry Cecil’s Birdinthehand in the Federation Of Small Businesses ‘‘Survival’’ Maiden Stakes at Leicester.
A late bloomer, the threeyear- old did not make his racecourse debut until early May at Southwell.
Despite Tom Queally putting up 2lb overweight, she was only beaten a length and ran green in the closing stages.
With that under her belt, improvement can be expected.
It is pretty low-key stuff at Carlisle, but the best punting proposition probably comes in the shape of Richard Fahey’s Yeadon in the opening Edinburgh Woollen Mill Median Auction Maiden Stakes.
Third on his debut at Ripon, he should take some stopping unless one of the newcomers are above average.
All eyes will be on J J The Jet Plane at Windsor as Mike De Kock’s sprinter makes his British debut in the sportingbet.com Up Up And Away Stakes.
De Kock’s talents are now well known worldwide as the South African has plundered big prizes all over the globe in recent seasons with the likes of Ipi Tombe, Archipenko, Eagle Mountain and Asiatic Boy.
For the last couple of seasons he has rented a base in Newmarket and housed a handful of of his better horses in Suffolk in an attempt to claim big-race honours on these shores.
This is the first time he has brought a quality sprinter over though and aiming at the top events must be slightly harder as so much can go wrong.
However, the Australians have proved that it can be done and there is no doubting the quality of the dual Group One winner J J The Jet Plane.
He may have bombed out spectacularly when odds-on favourite for his debut in Dubai on dirt, but he put that right on his next start in Group Three company back on turf.
The five-year-old is unlikely to be fully tuned up for this and is conceding weight all round, but Ryan Moore has been booked and his class should see him through.
Earlier on the card, Richard Hannon’s Footstepsofspring can break his maiden in the sportingbet.com EBF Novice Stakes.
He may be taking on a couple of winners but it looks like he was beaten by a pretty smart newcomer last time in John Dunlop’s Goodwood Maestro and he should be able to put his experience to good use.
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