Desert Ace could be a blessing for punters at Saints & Sinners
Desert Ace bids for back-to back wins on the Saints & Sinners card at Hamilton tonight.
Having made all in the corresponding race 12 months ago, he faces five rivals in the £13,600 Patersons Of Greenoakhill Handicap.
Trainer Paul Midgley said: “Most of his racing is over five furlongs so this is his trip. He’s 3lbs higher than last year but he’s since won at Beverley in May.”
Among those up against the bottom-weight are the Keith Dalgleish-trained Lomu, a course and distance winner from the opposite end of the handicap, and Alan Berry’s seven-time course scorer Economic Crisis.
The other feature race is the British Stallion Studs Captain J C Stewart EBF Fillies’ Handicap over a mile. Duck Egg Blue was an impressive seven-length winner over course and distance in May and is again piloted by locally-born apprentice Paula Muir.
In the last race, the Terry Mcsherry Memorial Handicap, Ninjago should not be discounted at a decent price.
First staged in 1965, the Saints & Sinners fixture is a terrific night of fun, fashion and quality racing that has raised around £2 million for small Scottish charities. A feature of the evening is punters choosing whether to sport a white carnation for a saint or a red one for a sinner.
At Newmarket, Aces looks to hold the winning hand in the 188Bet Mobile Bet10 Get20 Handicap.
Once with Charlie Hills and then with John Hammond in France, the Dark Angel gelding will be having his third start for Ian Williams and has already made his mark for the Alvechurch trainer.
First time up saw him head to Ascot in May, where he finished a not-disgraced seventh in a handicap won by Dreamfield, who went off an astonishingly short price for the Wokingham at Royal Ascot and is surely bound for big things.
He built on that next time up when making no mistake at the Derby meeting at Epsom, staying on strongly to win readily. The six-year-old has winning form over seven furlongs and it is no surprise to see him return to that trip, with further improvement at that distance more than possible, helping to negate the 8lb rise in the weights.
Red Cymbal promises to hit the right note in the six-furlong handicap. The William Haggas-trained son of Pivotal has not been seen since being beaten at odds on at Chelmsford in December, but it is too early to be writing him off, particularly if the market speaks in his favour.
Plenty can be taken from the latest effort of Jurz and he is expected to go close in the extended mile handicap at Nottingham. He was doing his best work late on over seven furlongs at Salisbury, where the post just came too soon.
Shared Equity should go very well in the Stobart Group Handicap at Newcastle. Jedd O’keeffe’s inmate has been in good order since wind surgery last summer and won a lovely prize at Epsom on Derby weekend. Shared Equity is 3lb higher for this one, but he is clearly in a fine frame of mind and it will be interesting to see how he goes on his first start on the Tapeta.