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Paul Hanagan kicked off his championship season with four winners on this day last year, three of them trained by his main employer, Richard Fahey. Neither man has made quite the same impact over the first three days of the new turf season but they are well placed to win the Lincoln Handicap with Irish Heartbeat.
Too much could be made of the fact that Irish Heartbeat (3.10) is unbeaten in two visits to Doncaster, but it is encouraging that he was able to win the Spring Mile over the Lincoln course and distance on his reappearance last year, his first run since joining Fahey from Ireland. He beat 17 rivals over an extended six furlongs here in September and it is always reassuring, in these races, if your fancy has a proven ability to beat big fields on straight tracks.
Irish Heartbeat remains just 5lb higher than for his latest success, despite having run well in two six-furlong races since then. Fresh and returning to a mile, he can make it a hat-trick of victories on Town Moor.
Fahey also runs Castles In The Air, another who has won a big-field handicap over a straight course and who also won on his reappearance last year.
Taqleed did not quite get home when sixth in the Cambridgeshire on just his fourth start, his second in a handicap. Now four and presumably having matured physically, he is an obvious contender off the same handicap mark, but odds of 4-1 are hard to like, even allowing for his trainer's excellent record in such races.
Eton Rifles did not manage to score last year, but ran well on his final three starts and was held off by a short-head over seven furlongs here in November. Another 2lb is probably neither here nor there and, if ready to go on his reappearance, could go close at big odds.
The effect of the draw is much harder to predict these days but Irish Heartbeat is at least drawn on the side that had the edge, if there was an edge, in last year's race.
Doncaster 2.05 Fahey and Hanagan could kick off another big day with Justonefortheroad in the Spring Mile. Also a winner on his first outing last year, this five-year-old scored twice more, most recently gaining a narrow verdict over Eton Rifles and 17 others over seven furlongs at York in October.
Kempton 2.20 Last year's Lincoln winner, Penitent, returns to the Polytrack circuit where he once ran on to force a dead-heat as a three-year-old. Already a winner at Listed level, he comes from the yard that won this race last year and is likely to be sharp enough. This 10-furlong trip would be a doubt on a straight turf track, but he can surely see it out here.
Doncaster 2.35 John Ryan is among those trainers who seem to have hit the ground running and his Iver Bridge Lad finally got on the score sheet for the first time in 20 months at Kempton last Saturday. It was not a great race and he had shown better form when chasing home JJ The Jet Plane in Dubai a fortnight before. This looks a good chance for him and he may catch some of these short of peak fitness.
Kempton 3.25 Fahey is not known for his strike-rate in Sunbury, but Cosmic Sun may gain the trainer a rare success. Well beaten in the Cesarewitch, he has since been given a second breathing operation and ran on strongly to win at Lingfield in February on his only subsequent start, making his all-weather debut. Just 4lb higher, he must have an excellent chance. The runner-up at Lingfield, Beaubrav, had won his previous two starts and has won again since.
Doncaster 3.40 David Evans has a couple of two-year-old wins on the board, one of them having been achieved with Redair at Kempton a week ago, when she beat Bubbly Ballerina and He's So Cool. Judging by the market support, that success was not unexpected, though she hung badly through greenness. Straighter this time, she may be hard to catch.
Horse sense
The Lincoln at Doncaster should prove its usual competitive self, with tips flying around for several horses, including the well-established favourite, Taqleed (3.10), described as "fit, well and strong" by our Newmarket source. There have also been mutterings of support for Prime Exhibit and Fremont, also prominent in the betting. Axiom is thought to be the interesting each-way contender, having his first run since joining Ed Walker, whose horses are reported to be looking well.
It could be a big day for Newmarket trainers as John Gosden's Cobbs Quay (4.15) has been working well in preparation for today's maiden, while Satwa Moon (5.20) will be backed to give Ed Dunlop a winner.
Paul Cole has had his first winner of the new turf season and is expected to have another with Mata Keranjang (2.05), gelded since last year. However, he will face a real challenge from Eton Forever, who was working well with Laaheb before that one was fourth in Dubai last weekend.
Barry Hills has several juveniles who are reckoned to be well forward. His Sea Odyssey will be well fancied for the five-furlong maiden at Windsor on Monday. More immediately, Early Applause (2.10), a three-year-old, is expected to break his maiden at Doncaster tomorrow, having shown significant improvement since last year.
Nicky Henderson will have a strong team at the Grand National meeting and there is real enthusiasm from those close to Long Run for him to run on Thursday. Henderson is expected to run Oscar Whisky and Binocular in the Aintree Hurdle but there is more room for doubt about the Cheltenham winner Bobs Worth. If the going is not softer than expected, he may miss the staying novice hurdle, though Henderson would still run Mossley.
Seen and heard
Hootys Agogo, third on his debut at Wolverhampton this week, is a name that officials at the British Horseracing Authority would probably like to veto, but they have missed their opportunity to do so. A Google search reveals that the gelding shares his name with a bar in the red-light district of Pattaya, Thailand, which is presumably familiar to a very different sort of punter.
Among the more obvious April fool gags yesterday was the one posted on Paul Nicholls' Betfair column, in which the champion trainer announced that he had been "spreading myself a bit too thinly". His assistant, Dan Skelton, would take over training the hurdles and bumper horses, the spoof article said. "While some at Ditcheat may think that Dan struggles to get past page three of the Sun each morning, he is a brilliant horseman," Nicholls was quoted as saying.
Nicholls' fellow trainer Marcus Tregoning has rearranged his business for real and, from this season, will be leasing Kingwood House Stables from Sheikh Hamdan rather than being salaried to train from there. Tregoning is determined to attract new owners and, to that end, is hoping for success from his three-year-old Yaseer and the juvenile Cavaleiro, one of the first crop of Sir Percy, the trainer's Derby winner from 2006.
Will Hayler's best bet
Sharp Sovereign 5.55 Doncaster
Luke McNiff must count among the more experienced of these apprentices, albeit in a slightly different sphere, as he rode Church Island into second place in the 2009 Irish National. He's got a nice ride here on David Barron's five-year-old, who was never out of the first three in 10 starts last year, scoring four times at around today's trip on a decent surface.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/apr/02/talking-horses
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