Saturday 15th February 2020





13:25 Lingfield

 The one in the line up who initially caught my eye was Shaffire for Harry Whittington, the booking of Silvestre De Sousa could be what finally get's this filly's head in front after a number of unlucky runs. She must surely be capable of this mark given she ran the progressive Agent Of Fortune close when second by half a length back in early December, that rival is now rated 26lb higher while Shaffire is only 8lb higher. She drops down in grade and is greatly respected in this field but I have two main worries for her: tactics and weather.

She has been reliant on being held up off a strong early pace and picking up the pieces late on but there doesn't look to be a great deal of pace in this field. In addition to this storm Dennis may play his part in how this race pans out (if he doesn't postpone the meeting entirely). If forecasts are correct then there could be a very strong tailwind in the home straight tomorrow afternoon at Lingfield, a course where it can be hard enough to peg back front runners even on a normal day.

The one who may benefit from all this is Al Daiha for Ed Walker and Andrea Atzeni. He has looked a different proposition since switching to handicaps the last twice and raced prominently when a solid second behind the in-form Noble Peace here at Lingfield on his latest start. The petrol tank emptied late on that day so this drop back to a mile could be what she's looking for and that winner has won again since, now rated 11lb higher. Ed Walker's string are in excellent form at present with 3 winners from his last 8 runners and in the hope they try and bounce out and make all I'll be backing his filly here.

Al Daiha 3/1 - 1 Point Win

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