Another One To Keep An Eye On At Lingfield

Looking through the cards again tonight another interesting horse caught my eye. Kelsey is trained by Tom Lacey, whose horses have been running very well lately (at big prices too). This son of Robin Des Champs is out of a half sister to the super mare Mariah Rollins, whose son Pendra won a nice race at Ascot just a week or two ago.

Kelsey made his rules debut at Chepstow on good ground over a trip similar to today's and ran a poor enough race. It seemed he didn't really enjoy the good ground, and his action, as well as his pedigree, suggest he will relish plenty of give in the ground (as so many of Robin Des Champs progeny do). He was rather deliberate at some of the hurdles, but hopefully the first time cheekpieces can sharpen up his jumping. He was beaten a distance but was eased after a mistake two out once his chance had gone.

The ground will be heavy at Lingfield tomorrow, and it can get extremely testing at that particular track. Plenty of these are having their first outings after a summer break, and their fitness will be well and truly tested on the sodden turf. Kelsey has the benefit of a run under his belt and looks sure to improve for the different underfoot conditions. Interestingly enough he was entered at the sales last January and went unsold with an asking price of £50k. It suggests he must be pretty well thought of by his owners.

Now he is far from a confident selection, and stakes should be kept to a minimum for this bet. He is a massive price though, and Lacey's last 4 runners have form figures of 1263. The winner was a 14/1 shot and the 2nd and 3rd were 16s and 20s respectively. At 66/1 hopefully Kelsey can continue his excellent run tomorrow.

STEVOS' SELECTION: 2.00 LINGFIELD-KELSEY E/W 66/1