Winter Derby at Lingfield

The new Good Friday meeting is going to be even better, but Lingfield´s card today is certainly the best all-weather fixture of the winter so far and features a strong renewal of the Group Three Winter Derby over 10 furlongs at 16.50 CET. Plenty of familiar faces here, including Grandeur (Jeremy Noseda/ Ryan Moore), an easy winner of the trail weith Anaconda (Tom Dascombe/ Richard Kingscote) third, Robin Hoods Bay (Ed Vaughan/ Luke Morris) 4th and Tinshu (Derek Haydn Jones/ Jamie Spencer) sixth. Grandeur was the hot favourite that day and meets them all on better terms; he is clear top-rated and therefore the logical choice. There is however a snag - he is drawn 14 of 14, a huge disadvantage here.

Old boy Premio Loco (Chris Wall/ George Baker), who won this in 2012, is drawn 1, which is almost as bad, while Farraaj (Roger Varian/ Andreas Atzeni) has made no show on his two starts after winning this last year. Windhoek (Saeed bin Duroor/ Silbvestre de Sousa) is Godolphin´s first U.K. runner of 2014 and judging by the way the stable is firing at Meydan, a clear danger, but our hope is French challenger Vodkato (Stephane Wattel/ Theo Bachelot). He has a good record on the French all- weather tracks and his latest close fifth at Chantilly was form which entitles him to go close here.

There are also 2 listed races on the card and in the 7 furlongs race for 3yo´s at 16.15, we have a similar situation, with the favourite Ertijaal (William Haggas/ Paul Hanagan) drawn 13 of 13. We will therefore oppose him with the filly Alutiq (Eve Johnson Houghton/ Jamie Spencer), who is trying this distance for the first time, but whose Kempton form from January is working out well.

The 5 furlongs event at 15.40 looks tricky, but we shall go along with last year´s winner Ladies Are Forever (Geoff Oldroyd /Robert Tart), while Andrew Balding, who is in good form, can end the day with a double with Highland Knight at 18.00 and Van Percy at 18.35, both ridden by star apprentice Oisin Murphy.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Sian Gwalia - Bert The Alert - Rowan Ridge
2. Race: Kingsgate Choice - Ladies Are Forever - Stepper Point
3. Race: Ertijaal - Alutiq - Bow Creek
4. Race: Grandeur - Farraaj - Windhoek
5. Race: Mount Shamsan - L`importante - Court Room
6. Race: Mondlicht - George Guru - Stasio
7. Race: Nautilus - Swing Alone - Villa Royale