Andrew Balding confident Cesarewitch gamble Ranch Hand will see out longer trip

Ranch Hand, who has halved in price this week into third favourite for Saturday's Emirates Cesarewitch, may be stepping up in trip for the marathon, but his trainer Andrew Balding is hopeful he will cope with the extra half a mile.

The three-year-old, a late developer who did not see a racecourse until March, has won three of his five starts, most recently landing a valuable 1m6f handicap at Haydock.

That success saddles him with a 4lb penalty in Saturday's heritage handicap but he is a pound well-in under that penalty as the handicapper raised him 5lb to a mark of 99.

Balding is confident there is more to come from a horse who was thrown into the Lingfield Derby Trial against subsequent Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck and the Group 3 Bahrain Trophy behind Spanish Mission.

The Kingsclere trainer, who was closely involved in the Cesarewitch success of Distant Prospect trained by his father in 2001, said: "He won nicely last time out and he's hopefully still improving and he's got good form – his only two blips have been in stakes races.

"It's a big step up in trip but both his dam and sire stayed well so it makes it a chance worth taking."

Punters, who had latched onto the stable's Cambridgeshire third Good Birthday last month, agree with the trainer as Ranch Hand is a best-priced 8-1 after starting the week 16-1.

The son of Dunaden, who races in the black and gold silks made famous by the legendary Mill Reef with his Group 1 exploits in 1971, was a 33-1 chance in the first ante-post show.

NEWMARKET, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 26: Ryan Moore riding Wichita win The Tattersalls Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse on September 26, 2019 in Newmarket, England. (Photo by Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images)Credit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Aidan O'Brien is also taking a chance having supplemented Wichita, last month's impressive Group 3 Tattersalls Stakes at Newmarket, for a clash with Pinatubo in the Group 1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes – a race his trainer Aidan O'Brien has won six times.

Speaking on Wednesday, O'Brien, who has four other Dewhurst entries, said: "We were very pleased with Wichita's performance at Newmarket. He came out of the race well and has been in good form since. We're happy with him and decided to supplement him."

Pinatubo has proved much too good for other Ballydoyle-trained colts pitted against him, most notably when trouncing subsequent Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere third Armory and Coventry Stakes winner Arizona in the National Stakes at the Curragh last month.

Watch Wichita's Newmarket romp last month

That nine-length Group 1 success earned rave reviews and a two-year-old rating higher than achieved by Frankel in his juvenile season.

The Godolphin colt had previously accounted for the O’Brien's Lope Y Fernandez, in both the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Vintage Stakes at Goodwood.

Wichita, the winner of two of his three starts including a seven-length Tattersalls Stakes success over the Dewhurst course and distance on his most recent start, will attempt to do better than his stablemates in a race O'Brien last won with US Navy Flag two years ago.

O'Brien first won the Dewhurst with Rock Of Gibraltar who went on to win the 2,000 Guineas as did Churchill, Ballydoyle's winner of the Group 1 juvenile event in 2016.

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