'I'm excited about him in sprint races this season' - key quotes and analysis for £50,000 handicap

Rohaan (white blaze) gets his head in front for the first time this year

English Oak (left): finished second to Rohaan (right) on his final start of last seasonCredit: Edward Whitaker

It seems that everybody is looking for a Group horse in a handicap and Noble Dynasty went off the 6-5 favourite for a Group 3 at Meydan last time, so seems to fit nicely into that category.

Noble Dynasty travelled with the zest that helped him to two victories at Newmarket and one at Lingfield in 2022, but the 469-day layoff caught him out in the later stages and he faded into fifth.

There should be improvement now he has that reappearance under his belt and trainer Charlie Appleby has given him another 62 days off to get over that first run in more than a year. There shouldn’t be any excuses this time.

Saint Lawrence has competed in Group 1s on two of his last three starts and was last seen beating only two home in the Group 3 Abernant Stakes here on his reappearance last month.

His last run in a handicap was when winning last season's Wokingham, so the drop back in class may help. However, he remains 7lb higher than for that success last summer.

If weight anchors those at the top of the handicap then Be Frank could be the one to cash in. He receives upwards of 21lb from Saint Lawrence and Noble Dynasty and represents Henry Candy, whose strike-rate jumps from ten per cent to 14 per cent when restricted to Newmarket.
Analysis by Graeme Rodway

Going update

The going at Newmarket is good but could potentially quicken by Friday morning if the track avoids any rain. Clerk of the course Andrew Morris said on Thursday morning: "We were forecast a light shower today, maybe only 1mm, but there's a risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon which we were due to miss. If we miss all those showers and thunderstorms today then I think tomorrow morning we’ll be probably good, good to firm in places. Tomorrow looks like there’s going to be rain during the day – probably about 3mm."

What they say

Oliver Cole, joint-trainer of Thunder Ball
He seems in good form and it'll be interesting to see how he runs over the seven-furlong trip.

Sean Levey, rider of Dark Thirty
He's been very consistent for as long as he's been with us. In that respect the handicapper tends to have him where he wants him and how much he has up his sleeve I don't know. He definitely improved from three to four and he'll be competitive, but we're getting closer to his ceiling.

Dark Thirty: won a 6f handicap at the Craven meetingCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Charlie McBride, trainer of Zouky
She's just come into her coat and looks great – she'll run a very big race. I think she's capable of being in the first three in a Listed race but there wasn't really a race available so she had to come back into a handicap.

Ed Walker, trainer of English Oak
He ran an amazing race over six furlongs at Ascot on his final start last year, just headed in the final strides. I'm excited about him in sprint races this season as he's a big, scopey four-year-old who should progress further.

William Stone, trainer of Final Watch
I hope we get ground that's close to good. He's pretty fit but might just need the run first time out. He seems to be able to handle the track, which is a help.

Henry Candy, trainer of Be Frank
I haven't had that many runners and they've all wanted a run so I strongly suspect he'd be the same. I was keen to step him up to seven furlongs last year but he just had a bit of a niggle after his run on the July course so I wasn't able to do any more with him after that. It's slightly experimental but I think it'll suit him.
Reporting by Charlie Huggins

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