Arthur Could Relish Step Up In Trip At Southwell

Prince Mahler was frustratingly a non runner today as Ludlow fell victim to the weather. I was looking forward to seeing him jump a fence, and hopefully it won't be too long before he is out again. Some of you might have noticed that Indiana Dawn, a horse I fancied to run well at Southwell when that too was called off, ran at Lingfield today. I didn't put her up as I think she will be better suited by a more forgiving surface. She ran another promising race under a tender ride, and watch out for her when she turns up at Southwell again, hopefully off a couple of pound lower.

Delegator has had some success with his first crop.

Tomorrow I am going back to Southwell for another nursery selection, and I think Arthurthedelegator looks a massive price in the opener at 11.50. This class 6 handicap will be run over a mile, and I think that will really suit this nicely bred colt by Delegator. He has shown promise on 2 of his 4 starts, and he was a big eye catcher upped to 7f on his handicap debut off a mark of 65 at Wolves last month under Nathan Evans.

He was reined back early on and he pulled quite hard under restraint for Evans. He met trouble not once, but twice as the race hotted up, and when he did eventually find daylight the leaders had flown. He only felt the warmth of the whip once, and he made late gains under hands and heels to finish a closing 5th. There is plenty of stamina on the dam side of his pedigree, and lots of black type too. His sire was a crack miler, chasing home Sea The Stars in the Guineas.

Kevin Stott has been booked for the ride by new kid on the block Olly Greenall, and that could be significant. Greenall has had just 2 winners since he started training instead of riding, and Stott was on board for both those winners. The draw in stall 11 is a negative, but Arthurthedelegator will likely be dropped in anyway.

Hopefully he settles better early on and with a couple of front runners in the race hopefully he gets a good pace to aim at. The money has come for the Beckett horse, but at odds of 33/1 I would much rather have a small interest each way on Arthurthedelegator. If he backs up his last run and improves for the new trip he shouldn't be far away.

STEVOS' SELECTION: 11.50 SOUTHWELL-ARTHURTHEDELEGATOR E/W 33/1