Johnston team opt for Catterick instead of Cherry Hinton with Prairie Spy

The Mark Johnston team found themselves between a rock and a hard place this week with their unbeaten dual-winning filly Prairie Spy, with the only viable options being the Group 2 Cherry Hinton Stakes or to give heaps of weight away in a Catterick nursery.

Neither is deemed ideal but they have opted to make the trip to Catterick (3.10), with the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum-owned juvenile giving 20lb and upwards to her five rivals.

Her two wins, by three lengths on debut at Thirsk and by a neck at Bath last time, have marked her out as above average but, as Racing Post Ratings of 79 and 84 reflect, she has not yet done quite enough to earn a spot in Graded company.

That could change here. If she has the class to give that amount of weight to race-fit and experienced fillies from Richard Fahey, Michael Dods and Keith Dalgleish stables, then she could just be up to contesting black-type contests.

Charlie Johnston, assistant and son of trainer Mark Johnston, said: "She's got a lot of weight to give away but you're between a rock and a hard place with horses like her.

"At this stage she hasn't quite done enough to warrant running in a Group race and her options this week were the Cherry Hinton or this nursery at Catterick, as there's nothing in between for her.

"She's got to give away a lot of weight because it's a nursery, but she has that weight because she's a better horse than the rest and hopefully she'll show that."

Varian wary of tough opening mark

If you were asked to describe a horse with an exciting profile, Kaanoon, who runs at Yarmouth (3.50), would be a fine example.

A three-year-old from the powerful Roger Varian yard, who races in the famous Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum silks and has form figures of 411, Kaanoon steps up in trip and makes his handicap debut against older horses from a mark of 89.

He has all the hallmarks of a highly-progressive, young colt en route to bigger and better things.

But the problem with an exciting profile is the horse may well be flattered by it and Varian is not certain the son of Bated Breath deserves the perception his profile creates.

He said: "He's a straightforward and improving horse who's won his last two but I thought he got quite a tough mark.

"It's not an easy rating to defy on your first run in a handicap, but he's going the right way and it's his first start at nine furlongs, so hopefully he'll cope with that.

"It looks a tough race – there's some seasoned handicappers in there – and I don't think it's a straightforward race.

"He's got a nice profile and yes, he's won twice, but he hasn't beaten an awful lot. 89 seems a tough opening mark but we'll see how we get on."

Dover back on a winning sequence

Cliffs Of Dover has won eight of his ten starts since joining Paul Nicholls from Charlie Hills in 2016, a record that shouldn't be overlooked.

2m handicap winner Cliffs Of Dover, seen here in more familiar guise over hurdles

Among them are a nine-length Listed win and a two and three-quarter length juvenile Grade 2 success over hurdles.

Since pulling up behind Elgin in the Kingwell Hurdle on his return from over a year off, when he was very keen, Nicholls has switched the five-year-old to the all-weather for his daughter Megan to ride, and he has promptly racked up two victories – progressing from a mark of 64 to line up at Kempton (7.55) off a mark of 77.

Given the level of ability he has shown over hurdles, it is easy to expect there is plenty more to come in these staying contests.

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