AN EARLY KNIGHT! William can get his delayed season off to bright start
NEWCASTLE
12.45 AMPLIFICATION
is ripe for a first all-weather win at the fifth attempt.
Coming from the back in a slowly run race didn’t help Michael Dods’ five-year-old over seven furlongs here in February, but he got to within a head of Lofty and a 3lb rise in the weights – and the return to a mile – shouldn’t prevent another good account.
1.20 DARK VISION
is attractively weighted on the pick of his 2019 form. Hopes that son of Dream Ahead would prove a player in the 2,000 Guineas didn’t come to fruition but the Mark Johnston trainee turned in some sound efforts in big-money handicaps last summer.
1.55
CANAGAT is a lightly-raced three-year-old who very much has her best days ahead of him.
The promise of a debut third at Chelmsford last October was confirmed with a half-length success at Kempton, and she has the scope to go past her handicap mark (83) as she makes her debut in the sphere.
2.30 MUBAKKER
is evidently a hard horse to keep sound – but there’s no doubt the potential is there.
Sir Michael Stoute has saddled the four-year-old son of Speightstown on just four occasions but my selection has won both his starts on the all-weather – including after a lay-off at Kempton last September – and soft ground didn’t suit at Ascot last time.
3.05 SIGNIFICANTLY
is bred to show to good effect in a race where the market will provide a good guide to expectations.
He is the first foal from Rosebride, who won twice at two – she also ran second in the Group 3 Firth Of Clyde Stakes at Ayr – and is said to have been pleasing trainer Karl Burke.
3.40 EMIRATI DIRHAM
has a bloodline to suggest he will be ready to fire. Sire Mehmas captured the July Stakes at Newmarket and Richmond Stakes at Glorious Goodwood for Richard Hannon before making the podium at the highest level, and dam Golden Legacy was also a smart
juvenile for Richard Fahey.
4.15 AISH
has a sharp pedigree and is the selection to get her career off to a flying start.
Twilight Son, her sire, was a top-class sprinter — he landed the Sprint Cup at Haydock five years ago —and the presence in her dam’s ancestry of another top Henry Candy-tutored speedster, Airwave, raises hopes for Kevin Ryan’s first-timer.
4.50 DESERT VISION
hails from an operation with an impressive record when it comes to two- year-old races at Newcastle. Oasis Dream was a top sprinter for John Gosden before he became a leading stallion, and dam Taaqah won at two for Desert Vision’s trainer James Tate, who knocks in a juvenile winner here at a strike-rate better than one in four.
5.25 UNIT OF ASSESSMENT
has been commendably consistent, and another good effort is on the cards. William Knight’s (left) sixyear-old is 4-15 on the allweather, including two Polytrack victories at Kempton in 2019, and is 2lb higher than when scoring on turf at Windsor this time last year.
The booking of Andrea Atzeni for a runner who goes well fresh catches the eye.
6.00 JUS PIRES
has the profile to add to his gains at the beginning of the year. On the back of wind surgery, Declan Carroll’s gelded son of Scat Daddy followed a third over a mile and a half here in January with a course-anddistance triumph four weeks later.