Ninjago can get off the mark for Midgley
TRAINER Paul Midgley can finally saddle Ninjago to victory when the sprinter lines up at Wolverhampton.
T he Nor th Yorkshire handler has made little secret of the admiration he holds for the seven-year-old gelding, who was transferred to Midgley from Richard Hannon’s yard last May.
Ninjago has occasionally threatened to live up to the positive vibes, but the hard fact remains he has gone 12 races without success for his new trainer.
The son of Mount Nelson has, however, been aggressively campaigned in good company, so perhaps this descent into class three company for the 32Red.com Handicap might do for him.
There was, after all, just reason for optimism for the future over this course and distance on his last outing in late February when he flashed home for fifth place in a better calibre of race.
Ninjago was only beaten a length and a quarter by King Robert, but there is hope that form can be reversed as the Midgley horse was blocked for room inside the final furlong and was always chasing the game from there on in.
Running off the same career-low mark of 89, he really ought to be competitive in this six-furlong affair.
Beauchamp Opal has a fighting chance of breaking her maiden tag in the mile-and-a-quarter apprentice handicap at Chelmsford.
The three-year-old filly, trained by Charlie Fellowes, has shown bits and pieces of form in seven starts, without ever ripping up too many giant oaks.
But she made a fair step in the right direction last time out at Kempton, when a fastfinishing fourth over a mile, to suggest her time is near off what remains a workable mark.
There is also a fair realistic expectation that Beauchamp Opal should come into her own over this longer trip. Evening Hush should be backed in the four-year-old fillies’ handicap hurdle at Warwick.
Evan Williams’ representative is a really smart horse, with a Listed success and a Grade One runner-up place at Chepstow already on the CV.
She also travelled strongly for a long way in the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, but wilted late on and finished 12th.
It barely goes without saying that this is much easier.