Cape crusade to recoup losses at Nottingham
– Mark Johnston appears to have found a fine opportunity for Cape Islay to regain losses today in the British EBF Nursery Handicap at Nottingham.
This Cape Cross filly is back up in distance, to this 2000m trip for her handicap debut after one victory in three attempts so far.
Following a promising third here on debut under Silvestre de Sousa, then her decisive maiden success over a well-touted oddson favourite at Epsom, Cape Islay was at the head of the market herself at Beverley last month.
But sent off the 11-4 joint-favourite, despite giving weight away all round, she had a luckless run - twice stopped in her tracks and having to switch late on.
A resulting 12.5-length fifth tells little of the true story – and with De Sousa back on board for this valuable event, significant consolation is due.
Harlequin Striker is top weight for a reason in the Bet At Racing UK.com Handicap.
Some may be put off by the sixyear-old's acquisition of a visor in place of his long-owned cheekpieces.
But Dean Ivory's gelding was last a winner in the corresponding race here 12 months ago, when the headgear went on for the first time.
He has been getting to the front of late, but just not managing to stay there on stiffer tracks, and it may be that everything falls into place this time.
At Kempton, John Gosden's Buffalo River can help get the evening off to a flying start in division one of the Close Brothers/ British Stallion Studs EBF Novice Stakes.
There will doubtless be plenty of regulars unwilling to trust Buffalo River again after he emptied their pockets here two weeks ago when he was turned over at 2-9 on his first crack at the Polytrack.
The fuller picture is three close-up placings out of three, though, and short memories of being nabbed on the line by a debutant may inflate the price of a prime contender.
His third place at Doncaster behind subsequent Group 1 winner Royal Marine and the also-smart Turgenev looks an increasingly good effort.
Later on under lights, it would be unwise to ignore the obvious in the ebfstallions.com Conditions Stakes.
Cenotaph has racked up three wins at Chelmsford since midsummer, after joining Jeremy Noseda from Aidan O'Brien, most recently in a valuable event at the start of last month.
This six-year-old sprang a minor surprise at this distance on the first occasion, but has since twice rewarded favourite backers and is thought the type to do well in Dubai next year. Handicap Chase at Ludlow. This eight-year-old had some useful novice chase form a couple of summers back and after a break, ran well before tiring late on in Market Rasen's Summer Plate Trial. – Press Association