Rare winner for the Top 40 - King's Lynn (3/1)

I have had a busy few days working for Racing TV at Haydock (Thursday and Saturday) and Carlisle (Friday) hence I haven't updated the Diary for a while. The weather forecast is good for the next couple of weeks which will hopefully mean we get some fast ground having endured a prolonged wet spell for the majority of May. 

With a crowd of around 3,000 at Haydock and some excellent weather, it was a very enjoyable afternoon at the Merseyside track on Saturday. Ralph Beckett continues to send out an endless amount of winners (9 from 31 during the last 14 days), including Kinross (5/1) in the Group 3 John of Gaunt Stakes. The son of Kingman, who had contested three Group 1 events earlier in his career, had been gelded following two lacklustre performances at Meydan during the winter and looked right back to his best under Frankie Dettori in the seven furlongs event. Taking over at the two pole, he stretched clear to win in the manner of a smart performer. With his confidence restored, the four year old will hopefully tackle the top seven furlongs events this summer, including the Lennox Stakes at Goodwood and the Hungerford Stakes at Newbury - he doesn't seem to mind some give in the ground and could be one for the Group 1 Prix de la Foret at Longchamp's Arc meeting in early October. Seven furlongs looks his trip.

The Hampshire based handler also sent out Fleurman (7/2) to win on his handicap debut at Salisbury on Saturday evening. A gelded son of Mastercraftsman, his trainer had suggested on page 63 of Ahead On The Flat that the three year old would improve when stepped up to middle distances and that was the case as he stayed on well to lead close home in the twelve furlongs handicap off an opening mark of 64. Out of a bumper winner, he will stay further and is the sort to rack up a sequence in middle distance/staying handicaps. Ralph's interviews in AOTF has been superb.

Unfortunately, the Top 40 Prospects haven't been anywhere near as profitable to follow but King's Lynn (3/1) provided the section with a rare success on Saturday. Andrew Balding's lightly raced four year old had run well on both his starts this spring at Newbury and Chester. Rated 95, the Cable Bay gelding was tackling Pattern company for the first time in the Listed Achilles Stakes and belied his official mark with a gutsy display to see off the 105 rated Moss Girl. Partnered by Oisin Murphy, he travelled strongly before showing a good attitude to fend off the challenge of Ed Bethell's stable star to prevail by a neck. He heads to Royal Ascot now for either the King's Stand Stakes or Wokingham Handicap - I suspect it will be the former because he may have found his niche over the minimum trip.