3 minute read

Paul Midgley feels ground conditions will be the key factor in deciding whether Monsieur Joe or Desert Law comes out on top when the stable companions clash in Wednesday's j2o Spritz Scarbrough Stakes at Doncaster .

Monsieur Joe heads for Town Moor in tremendous form following an impressive victory in a Listed race at Tipperary last month and Midgley believes any rain would aid his cause.

On the other side of the coin, however, Investec "Dash" winner Desert Law prefers quicker ground and the trainer believes he could be the value call unless conditions deteriorate.

Midgley said: "Both of them are in excellent form and looking at the race, I think it's between the two of them and Cotai Glory. That's the way I see it.

"Any rain would be greatly appreciated for Monsieur Joe, but then Desert Law doesn't want any rain, so we'll have to see which way it goes.

"Monsieur Joe was excellent at Tipperary last time and to be fair to him, it's probably the first time in a while he's had his ground.

"Desert Law ran really well at York last time and the slow ground probably just went against him on the day.

"It's difficult to choose between them, but I suppose at the prices, Desert Law looks a big price to me at 8-1 and Monsieur Joe is probably about right at 4-1."

The Jeremy Gask-trained Medicean Man heads the betting.

The tough-as-teak nine-year-old was beaten just a short-head in the King's Stand at Royal Ascot, but failed to fire in the Nunthorpe at York.

Gask said: "He seems very well and worked well earlier in the week and we're just hoping for ground as good as we can get.

"He didn't handle the ground at all at York and with hindsight we probably should have taken him out, but it's always difficult.

"He seems fine since then and we'll wait and see what happens with the ground at Doncaster."

Cotai Glory, Kingsgate Native and Steps all feature in a competitive 12-strong field.