Writing on the wall for Graffiti Master

● Gosden’s gelding can benefit from long break and shorter trip at Wolverhampton

Graffiti Master cut little ice on his recent outing at Listed level, but a drop in class for the Play 4Toscore At Betway Handicap at Wolverhampton can bring about a return to winning form.

The three-year-old won one of his three juvenile outings in 2017, but posted his most eyecatching piece of form when beaten four lengths into third by subsequent St Leger hero Kew Gardens on his final run.

Clearly their paths have diverged this term, with Graffiti Master finishing fourth on his return at Newmarket in May before being off the track for more than 180 days.

John Gosden’s runner underwent a gelding operation during that time, and his most recent outing at Headquarters perhaps raised more questions than it answered because he was a well-beaten fifth in the Ben Marshall Stakes.

However, he was pretty keen over a mile that day, and perhaps the sharper trip combinedwith a lengthy break and soft ground just all proved a bit too much. Switched back up to an extended nine furlongs here, Graffiti Master should handle the Tapeta surface and can start to resume an upward trajectory.

Gosden and rider Robert Havlin should also be on the mark with Frisella in the second division of the Ladbrokes Home Of The Odds Boost Fillies’ Novice Stakes. This beautifully bred filly is by Frankel out of a half-sister to Kingman, so clearly a victory on her CV would further enhance her already enviable pedigree.

Second on her initial try, she half-reared as the stalls opened at Haydock back in May and has been given a good chunk of time to develop in the interim.

Ballyquin looks more than capable of taking a race like the Betway Casino Novice Stakes at Newcastle.

Andrew Balding’s runner posted a fair effort on his first all-weather outing, finishing third behind an oddson Godolphin favourite at Kempton at the end of October. Returning from a lengthy spell off the track that day, he was very fresh and probably did too much early on, with those exertions telling at the finish.

He should strip fitter for that first run since April, though – and with a very fair looking rating of 78, it is perhaps telling that Balding persists in novice company here.

Shambra can snap this season’s bout of seconditis in the Sri Lanka The Paradise Island Mares’ Handicap Hurdle at Hereford. Denied by a lengthand-a-half at Stratford in October, Shambra was then held by just a neck at Fontwell on her most recent outing.

She was just run out of it over two miles and three furlongs that day, so perhaps a drop to two miles here can help her cause.