Wins for Coral Mist (7-1) and Supplicant (5-1) gave us a tidy profit on a busy Saturday. The highlight this week is the Cambridgeshire meeting at Newmarket but we’ll start the week with a look at Lingfield on Tuesday.
I’m not a great fan of the all-weather but the big Newmarket stables seem to be happy to run their maidens at Lingfield and there are a couple that catch my eye. The first is Sir Michael Stoute’s Alex Vino in the 3.00 race.
He finished third on his debut behind 33-1 shot Learaig at Newmarket when ridden by Kieren Fallon. As a son of High Chaparral, he’s bred for a mile and a half in time so the seven furlongs was barely enough to get him going. Fallon was noticeably easy on him, pushing out with hands and heels. Ryan Moore steps in for the ride tomorrow and has one significant opponent in Alpine Retreat. The Godolphin colt finished second on his debut at Kempton so will handle the surface and rates a live danger. I’m just hoping that Alex Vino has more scope and I expect him to be ridden more prominently here.
My second bet of the day is in the closing race at 5.30. If any Lingfield regulars are thinking of leaving early to beat the traffic, they may want to hold on for an interesting maiden. Squire Osbaldeston is the selection, running for Lady Cecil who has just confirmed her intention to remain in charge at Warren Place next season.
This colt has always been held in some regard but has only managed three racecourse appearances. The most recent was back in May when he saw no daylight at all behind Eshtiaal at Goodwood. There are some useful sorts in opposition, notably Godolphin’s Hawker, but I’m hoping that Lady C has her charge fully wound up for this. By the way, Squire Osbaldeston himself once won a 200-mile endurance race by completing it in ten hours. Hopefully his namesake will come home a lot quicker tomorrow!
Alex Vino 3.00 15-8 Skybet
Squire Osbaldeston 5.30 5-2 Bet Victor