Friday Racing Tips from Architect

CUBAN BREEZE (best price 11/4) has already gained a pair of all-weather wins this year and has continued that form to the turf with two creditable in-the-frame efforts on her last two starts. She could only finish fourth here on her penultimate outing but if you take Christian Howarth’s seven-pound claim into consideration, she’s effectively only a pound higher than her last winning mark which also came in this grade. If she appreciates the return to five furlongs, David Evans’ filly should be firmly in the shake-up in this winnable contest. 

LIONEL (best price 9/2) was undeniably a tad unfortunate not to walk away with the prize at Newbury last time, where he was restless in the stalls, slow into stride and was inconvenienced by track position but still managed to nearly get upsides the eventual first and second at the post to finish with running left. That was a testament to the natural ability he possesses and the form has a nice look to it too, given the winner, Natural World, ran well in the Derby Trial next time and the runner-up, Ottoman Fleet, won next-time-out at Newmarket. He probably would have won on debut too with a clear run at things instead of being forced to go wide of the whole field in which he briefly got to the front only to be headed late on by Zain Nights with Lysander back in third. All things considered, he appears to be capable of so much better and provided Jamie Spencer can keep things simple, this Lope De Vega Colt should go very well in the hope of making it third time lucky. 

RICH KING (best price 11/2) has yet to win in four starts but has displayed promise in all of them and stepped up on his three previous efforts when runner-up on return/handicap debut at Redcar last month. The winner has let the form down next time but the third and fourth have won since off marks of 76 and 72 so his initial mark of 74 looks within range. That was his first effort over this trip and this represents a drop in grade off only a pound higher mark so he’s open to more improvement. Kevin Stott has got a tune out of him on his last three starts and the pair should be set to produce another bold display with the three places available. 

Phil Kirby’s RED FORCE ONE (best price 13/2) could only finish last at Doncaster just shy of three weeks ago but he drops into a class six for the first time in his career off his lowest mark to date. His last three victories in this sphere were off marks of 73, 74 and 79 which were all in class-four events. His last visit to this course resulted with a third place effort off a mark of 78 and he’s twelve-pounds lower here. Ryan Sexton is an excellent jockey booking, who can claim five-pounds, and his offset can reduce the seven-year-old’s weight and this is a massive drop in grade from last time too. The application of cheekpieces should have a positive effect and he could be ready to run a big race now with plenty in his favour. 

GLORY FIGHTER (best price 3/1) was below his best when last spotted but he’s better than that and is only 2Ib higher than when scoring in a slightly higher grade back in September. He’s generally competed in better events than this during his career and went close on his last visit to this course in a class two event off a mark of 84. He was right in behind two horses rated 95 and 96 that day so is sure to find his return to this course in this grade far much easier off a lower mark against lower rated rivals. Ryan Sexton is an interesting jockey booking and while his mount does need to take a step forward from his two efforts so far this return; the combination of his reduced mark, return to this course and a good claimer booked should hopefully be enough to see him bounce back and go close to winning this sprint assignment.