Western Morning News (Saturday)
Awaal can win Lincoln for Crisfords
JUST seven days on from coming agonisingly close to winning one of the richest races in the world with Algiers, Simon and Ed Crisford can land the first major handicap of the new Flat season with Awaal in the Pertemps Network Lincoln this afternoon.
The Doncaster feature has a rich history and this year has benefited from a substantial prize money boost with almost £80,000 to the winner, but that pales in comparison to the £5.8 million Algiers would have won had he held on in the Dubai World Cup.
Nevertheless, he still picked up a cool £2m and the Crisfords proved yet again that when they aim a horse at a big race, they are never far away.
Awaal is one of the least-experienced runners on Town Moor, but when he was last seen at Redcar in October, he looked a very smart prospect indeed.
Prior to that he had been beaten less than a length by James Horton’s Phantom Flight at level weights, with the winner is now rated 108.
Awaal proved he can go well fresh as he had five months off before heading to Redcar, but he was in a different league to some solid handicappers. Raised 9lb for that, he will still need a little bit up his sleeve as he is nearly carrying top weight but the chances are this will be his last handicap for a while if he runs well.
He has drawn stall 17, which also seems a positive given five of the last eight winners have left from higher than 15, he has won on heavy ground already and five of the last six victors have been from his age bracket.
The Crisfords also appear to hold strong claims in the Listed Pertemps Network Doncaster Mile with Poker Face. Unbeaten in three outings, he is a bit of an unknown quantity and if the top-rated Tempus fails to run up to his lofty mark of 114, Poker Face looks the one to take advantage.
He was last seen winning by over eight lengths and while that might not have been much of a race at Pontefract, the winning margin could easily have been doubled. The testing ground will ensure his stamina comes into play.