'There’s no such thing as a penalty kick' - Lezoo camp wary of unexposed rivals

Saturday: 1.50 Ascot
Princess Margaret Keeneland Stakes | Group 3 | 6f | 2yo Fillies | ITV/RTV

A huge Saturday for trainer Ralph Beckett kicks off with two runners in this Group 3 and Lezoo is out quickly in a bid to put defeat in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket behind her, when she was edged out of it in a barging match with all-the-way winner Mawj.

Lezoo opened at around 5-2 on Betfair to be awarded the race in the subsequent stewards’ inquiry, but rider Frankie Dettori did not press his case and the result was allowed to stand.

According to the CourseTrack sectionals, Lezoo ran the final three furlongs 0.16 seconds - just under a length - quicker than Mawj, despite the interference, and that evidence is enough to convince me the best horse finished second. So can she go and prove it with victory here?

Lezoo is 12lb clear of her rivals on last-time-out form judged on Racing Post Ratings and even her previous Empress Stakes win leaves her with 10lb in hand, but she does face some unexposed rivals who could easily improve.

Kinta is chief among them. She has yet to return an SP bigger than 5-4 and went off odds on for her latest victory at Kempton, when she gave weight and a beating to her eight rivals.

Title-chasing William Buick was on board that day and is back on again. He is 23-87 (26 per cent) for the yard and a further 31 of his rides for Boughey finished in the first four places.

The other unknown quantity is Glenlaurel. She went through the line like an express train when bolting up on her debut at Thirsk last month, but Beckett trained the fourth that day, Puffable, and has a line on her. Maybe he feels Lezoo and his other runner, Palm Lily, have the edge.
Race analysis by Graeme Rodway

Lezoo bids to bounce back

Lezoo is hot favourite to retain the winning thread after chasing home Mawj in the Group 2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket last time, when the winner had to survive a stewards' inquiry after some interference inside the final furlong.

The speedy grey, trained by Ralph Beckett, is down in class but her connections are concerned about the wealth of unexposed talent in opposition.

Jamie McCalmont, racing manager to owner Marc Chan, said: "There’s no such thing as a penalty kick in racing but she deserves to be favourite after her second in the Duke Of Cambridge last time.

"There are a lot of unexposed horses in there that could jump up and be big players so I don’t think she should be as short as she is in the betting. Hopefully she gets a bit more luck in running than at Newmarket and we are very much looking forward to the race.”

What they say

Rod Millman, trainer of Cuban Mistress
She’s got good form so I don’t know why she’s such a big price. We made too much use of her last time so hopefully she can drop in and it will be interesting to see how she goes over six furlongs for the first time.

Andrea Atzeni, rider of Glenlaurel
She won quite well on her debut at Thirsk and I expect this stiff 6f to play to her strengths. She’s taking on some similar types but deserves to have a crack at some black type.

George Boughey, trainer of Kinta
Kinta has won two races but is still learning her job really. She was a breeze up purchase but is still immature and is still developing. This looks the natural step up for her and William Buick was very pleased with her last time. I would say she goes there with a good each-way chance in a race full of unexposed sorts as you would expect.

Ralph Beckett, trainer of Lezoo and Palm Lily
Lezoo has been busy but she appears to be thriving on her racing so we're going again. Palm Lily has had plenty of time to get over her debut and she's a filly who looks like she's up to this grade so lets hope I'm right.

Richard Hannon, trainer of Minnetonka
She has a bit to find with Lezoo on the form from Newmarket but things didn’t pan out great for her that day and she is better than that. She likes quick ground and won well at Salisbury before that so hopefully she can bounce back.

Emily Scott, racing manager to Amo Racing and Omnihorse, owners of Omniqueen
She's had a break since the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot but you can put a line through that effort as she clipped heels and was nearly on her nose coming out of the stalls. She won at the track prior to that so hopefully we can put that behind her and we still hold her in high regard.

Read Saturday's race previews:

2.05 York: Can Harry Cobden grab the bragging rights in jump jockeys' Nunthorpe?

2.40 York: Keith Melrose explains how the draw could help solve York's Dash Handicap puzzle

3.00 Ascot: 'He's improving and has a definite chance' - key insight for big-field handicap

3.15 York: Will Claymore prove his class for Jane CHapple-Hyam and down Dubai Honour?

3.35 Ascot: King George insight as Westover and Emily Upjohn face top-class rivals

King George analysis: Why the older horses have been underestimated against their younger opponents (£)

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