Cash in on Kohinoor Diamond in Lingfield finale
Kohinoor Diamond looks a typical Sir Mark Prescott project and can get back to winning ways in the Betway Apprentice Handicap at Lingfield.
Three quick runs over 1200m were followed – a year later – by a step up to middle-distances from a lowly mark of 55 at Chelmsford and a comfortable win.
She looked one to follow there and is readily forgiven a subsequent defeat back there a week later. Still green through the contest she was slowly away and then – when finally seeing daylight late on – had her run stopped when making late gains.
Draw a line through that and she looks a solid bet in a very weak contest.
What A Welcome bolted up on his handicap debut here earlier in the month but that was a race that lacked substance and he’s 2kg higher.
Relevant is a potential danger if revitalised by first-time cheek pieces but the selection is the one runner in the race with the scope to be significantly better than her current mark. In the hope she’s learned plenty from the last outing, she’s a confident selection to get back on that upward curve.
In other news Ruby Walsh is home, does not require surgery and will most definitely be back in time for the Cheltenham Festival, according to Turf Club chief medical officer Dr Adrian McGoldrick. Walsh's right leg is in a plaster cast after he fractured his tibia in a fall from Let's Dance at the fourth-last in the Listed mares' hurdle at Punchestown on Saturday.
The big question after such a serious injury is whether he will be back in time for Cheltenham in March, but McGoldrick dispelled any notion he might miss the festival.
He said: "Ruby is in a plaster of Paris and, while it is impossible to say exactly how long he will be out for as every fracture is different in the time it takes to heal, there is absolutely no question about him being back in time for Cheltenham. He definitely will. I have no doubt about that."
Walsh was returning to action from an 11-day absence because of a hand injury at Punchestown and suffered three falls from his first four rides, the other being a winner. –