Sam King is back with two selections from Wolverhampton this evening…
It's restricted riders' week on the all-weather from Monday to Friday, but there are plenty of talented jockeys on display who will be itching to showcase their talents ahead of the turf season.
From the likes of experienced Group 1-winning rider Dougie Costello to upcoming apprentice Warren Fentiman, it will be interesting to watch who excels and see how the week unfolds.
One who may profit throughout the week is William Carver, who is a fairly big cog in the Andrew Balding team – a trainer who couldn't be in much better form at present with a 30% strike rate over the last fourteen days.
He takes the ride on Fast Society in the opening Class 3 handicap at Wolverhampton (4.25) this evening and his claims are fairly obvious for all to see. An unexposed four-year-old, Andrew Balding's charge looked useful when winning a seven-furlong novice event under a penalty on heavy ground at Salisbury last May before a likely setback kept him off the track for the remainder of the season.
Understandably, he looked rusty when sixth of twelve on his handicap debut at Kempton in December, but it was a performance that showed he could certainly be capable from around this mark, and it wasn't surprising to see him back that up by finishing second at Wolverhampton last month.
Andrew Balding's son of Fast Company lost nothing in defeat when runner-up to an unexposed handicap debutant of Michael Bell's, who looks sure to go onto bigger and better things, and a 3lb rise in the weights shouldn't be enough to prevent a huge bid, especially with this extra furlong another potential catalyst for further improvement.
1pt WIN – Fast Society
Odds – 7/4
Later on the card, it could pay to side with Winchurch in the five-furlong Class 4 handicap at 6.00. Michael Appleby's charge shaped miles better than his fifth-place finish suggests he did at Southwell last time, staying on well from off the pace having completely missed the break and suffered considerable interference in running.
There's no doubt he'll need to break sharper from stall two on his first outing at Wolverhampton, but if he can hold a decent early position behind current market favourite and likely pace-setter Layla Liz, then I wouldn't be surprised if he was coming home best of all over this minimum trip.
A 2lb drop in the weights puts him on the same mark as when he finished runner-up at Southwell in December and with the experienced Fred Larson doing the steering for the first time, he gets the nod to come out on top.
1pt WIN – Winchurch
Odds – 7/2
