NEZAR CAN SPRINT HOME
TRAINER DEAN IVORY CAN KEEP HIS BANGWAGON GOING IN NEWCASTLE’S BETWAY SPRINT HANDICAP
Dean Ivory enjoyed a redletter day with Librisa Breeze at Ascot and Nezar can keep the bandwagon rolling, albeit at a much lower level, with victory at Newcastle tomorrow.
The Gosforth Park venue stages the first day of the All-Weather Championships and Ivory is quick out of the blocks as he sends Nezar for the Betway Sprint Handicap.
Nezar joined Ivory at the start of 2017 and was a winner at Wolverhampton back in April before embarking on a summer break following his sixth outing of the year at Brighton in June.
The six-year-old returned suitably refreshed with a narrow fourth at Kempton at the beginning of September, before hitting the bar in second at Goodwood at the end of the month.
Nezar was only beaten a neck on that occasion as the winner proved most game and while a 2lb rise is perhaps a bit harsh, he has won off a higher mark in the past.
Dramatic Queen can sign off for the year with a win in the first division of the Breeders Backing Racing EBF Fillies’ Novice Stakes at Yarmouth.
William Haggas pitched this Kitten’s Joy filly in on heavy ground at Haydock for her racecourse bow and perhaps the testing conditions that day proved her undoing as she finished third.
She kept on gamely enough over a mile and looked sure to thrive on quicker ground, which she seems likely to get here.
Hourglass lines up in the second division and is one to follow on her racecourse debut for Marco Botti. Owned by the Coolmore team, Hourglass is a Galileo half-sister to the top-class Shamardal and can make quite a splash.
All eyes will be on Yanworth as he starts out over fences in the 188Bet Best Mate Beginners’ Chase at Exeter.
The seven-year-old moves up to the bigger obstacles after a distinguished hurdles career, which yielded two Grade One victories as well as a handful of Grade Two verdicts.
Sent off favourite for the Champion Hurdle back in March, Yanworth never looked like taking a hand in the finish and was eventually disqualified after failing a post-race drugs test. He then stepped up to an extended three miles to win the Liverpool Hurdle.
Switching back to two miles and a furlong may not be totally up his street, but Yanworth is a class act and Alan King has found him an excellent starting point before moving on to bigger and better things.