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Sam King has tipped 5/4, 11/2, 15/2 and 11/8 winners over the last week and returns with a trio of selections for this fine Friday.
Day two of Doncaster gets underway and although we probably didn't learn much from a punting angle on day one, the general view that the track would take some getting was certainly proved correct.
The market looks to have found the right favourite with War Rooms in the Betfred Flying Scotsman Stakes (1.50) but I'm happy enough to take him on at the prices.
Local Hero really impressed me with the way he went about his business on debut at Kempton, but he's been weak in the market all morning and I'm not particularly sure he'll be suited by this drop in trip on soft ground.
With that in mind, Roger Teal's Dancing Gemini might be the one to side with. He went straight into my tracker when running a belting race to finish second at Salisbury on debut and probably didn't do himself justice when fifth behind the potentially top-class Rosallion in the Listed Pat Eddery Stakes at Ascot last time. That said, the runner-up that day has come out to score in Listed company subsequently to boost the form and he did show up better than his finishing position suggests for most of the way.
It's no surprise connections wanted to see this nicely-bred son of Camelot get his head in front and he duly obliged with a taking success when dropped back into maiden company at Newbury last time. It looked a fairly warm race on paper but in all truth, the result was never in doubt from the furlong marker as Dancing Gemini quickened up the manner of a decent prospect to score readily by a length and three-quarters.
The Camelot colt certainly looked to relish underfoot conditions that day and he was also particularly impressive on the clock. His overall time was only a second slower than that of the winner in the Group 3 Hungerford over the same course and distance and had plenty of clock-watchers purring at the last few furlongs from a sectional perspective.
Stepping back up into pattern company will obviously require him to raise his game once more but connections clearly hold this colt in some regard and at the current prices, he looks a solid each-way bet with conditions likely to suit.
Selection: Dancing Gemini – General 6/1
The two Group races make little appeal to me from a betting perspective so it's to the handicaps we head for our next selection.
Cherry has been well-backed this morning to land the British Ebf Ruby Anniversary Premier Fillies' Handicap at 4.10 and I'm hopeful that early money can prove well-placed.
The Juddmonte-owned filly gains full marks for consistency in her five outings to date and fully deserved to get her head in front for the first time when running out a facile winner of a Goodwood maiden last-time-out.
She found the frame for the fourth time on the spin when bumping into subsequent Listed Galtres Stakes winner Sea Theme, who now holds a rating of 98, over today's course and distance and probably didn't have to improve on that form when getting off the mark on the Sussex Downs 19 days ago.
However, she was impressive on the clock at Goodwood and produced a performance on the numbers that would suggest there was actually some improvement from her previous four outings. A soft surface, which she will be encountering this afternoon, looks key to this daughter of Dubawi and with a definite possibility of further progress now going up in trip on her handicap debut, she looks a strong bet to give the in-form Ralph Beckett team yet another winner this campaign.
Selection: Cherry – General 13/8
It could be a good day for Ryan Moore, who has a very decent book of rides throughout the card, and I'm hoping he can finish it off in style by taking the concluding Hippo Clean Edge Masking Tape Confined Nursery (5.20) onboard Red Zone Hero Not many of these have any form on soft ground, but Red Zone Hero certainly does having kicked clear in impressive fashion in testing conditions at Ayr two starts ago.
He finished behind the reopposing Blue Prince when pitched into a hot nursery at the Ebor meeting last month on his handicap bow but clearly found the ground too lively that day. Michael Bell's son of Starspangledbanner was dropped 1lb for that effort on his handicap bow last month and a mark of 79 would make him chucked in if you take a straight line through the form of his Yarmouth second back in July. He only found the now 101-rated and Group 3 runner-up Seven Questions three-quarters of a length too strong that day and with Michael Bell boasting a decent strike-rate in nurseries on the Town Moor (18%), Red Zone Hero gets the nod to close day two of the St Leger Festival in winning fashion.
Selection: Red Zone Hero – General 7/2
