Well-treated beaten Galway favourite may hold the key back on a sound surface

An early show of around 6-1 the field is exactly the kind of competitiveness you would hope to see in a Racing League fixture and it is difficult to rule anything out of this £50,000 prize.

In all likelihood one of Chartwell House, Maywake, Metal Merchant and Mobashr will head the market by the off, but Metabolt would surely have the most compelling profile of all had he not pitched up at the Galway festival two weeks ago.

It is rare for a British-trained horse to top the betting for a Ballybrit handicap and Metabolt was backed into 4-1 favouritism there for trainer Dave Loughnane, but his challenge petered out quickly round the home bend and rider Chris Hayes eventually eased him down long before the finish. He trailed home 11th of the 18 runners.

Perhaps the slower ground, described as yielding, contributed to Metabolt's demise and he is a massive player if returning to the form of his neck second to Paws For Thought at Haydock in July. That horse is now rated 10lb higher after scoring again and Metabolt is up just 1lb, so is worth considering on this quicker surface.

The other to take the eye at the prices is Kimifive for Ian Williams. The eight-year-old spent plenty of the early part of his career running at Windsor and returns to the track following five years away.

He recorded Racing Post Ratings of 83, 90, 92 and 98 on those four runs (form figures of 2114) and is unexposed over this mile trip, having encountered it for the first time at Epsom last time.

A 2lb drop to a mark of 69 for Kimifive’s fourth-placed finish there, when he was not beaten for a lack of stamina, is a potentially generous piece of handicapping as he edges ever closer to his previous winning mark.
Race analysis by Robbie Wilders

What they say

Tom Ward, trainer of Farasi Lane
He’s very well and he won nicely at Ascot but the ground went horribly wrong for him at Goodwood. He’ll be on a better surface and he’s now down to a nice mark. He does a lot of his winning over seven furlongs but a mile around Windsor seems to suit him too.

Karl Burke, trainer of Ana Gold
She's in very good form and just didn’t handle the ground at Newbury last time. She's run well at this track before and I’m expecting a good run.

Clive Cox, trainer of Just Bring It
Hopefully the conditions remain on the drier side. He made a very pleasing start to the year and he’s since had a freshen up.

Charlie Fellowes, trainer of Power Of Darkness
He’s not the easiest to train but he ran a cracker last time at a track that possibly doesn’t quite suit him. He seems to have come out of it well and I think the visor worked and Laura Pearson gets on him well.

Ian Williams, trainer of Kimifive
He gets in this off a low weight and s very effective over this trip. His runs this season have suggested a win is not far away and he’s run better than the result may have suggested on the last couple of starts.
Reporting by Liam Headd

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