Thursday Racing Tips From Architect

Light Of Peace and Spanish look two highly-promising fillies’ but the Roger Charlton-trained WHITE BEAM (best price 2/1) could hardly have returned an easier winner at this course last month and despite shouldering a penalty, this daughter of Caravaggio has to be classed as the one to beat. She did plenty wrong on debut back in April but still managed to finish a good third and duly built on that promise to score by over two-lengths on her return to this venue. This extra furlong should also bring about further improvement and she gets the vote to follow-up here. 

The feature race of the day and while Ching Shih ran a very good race when third to Emily Upjohn in the Musidora on her return, I think she’ll do well to beat GOLDEN LYRA (best price 5/4). This promising filly made a winning debut at Newmarket last year when easily beating subsequent Oaks third Nashwa with lots to spare, so she holds the former on that form and while she’s conceding fitness to her rivals, she has the untapped potential to reach even greater heights. She’s significantly up in trip here but I think it will see her to even better effect as the further she went on debut, the better she looked and she was drawing further clear of the remainder in the closing stages. If she is ready to go after her absence, she could prove tough to beat here. 

LAND OF EAGLES (best price 6/1) returned a beaten odds-on favourite on his first outing for George Boughey but that was his first start for eight months and he looks well-treated on handicap debut here off 74 with Mark Crehan claiming a valuable three-pounds. He was well beaten on his debut back in august last year but ran a solid race to finish a close-up fourth next time, in which he was right in behind subsequent Group 3 winner Hannibal Barca, who went onto to win next before and then finish fourth in the Group 1 Futurity Trophy at Doncaster. On that evidence, this son of Zoffany clearly has a good chunk of ability and, with that latest return run under his belt, he could easily exceed market expectations with a bigger performance here. 

NOT ON YOUR NELLIE (best price 12/1) remains winless in nearly fourteen months but Nigel Tinklers’ mare has put together a sequence of solid efforts in defeat since and has finished runner-up four times off higher marks than today’s mark since scoring at Nottingham early last year. Since her reappearance at Beverley, she’s been solid without threatening in three subsequent starts, including when second on her penultimate start. The last time she competed over course-and-distance, which was July last year, she came within a ‘neck’ of success and is effectively four-pound lower here. Faye Mcmanoman knows her very well and, with a good draw to contend with, she’s worth one more interest at the morning odds.