'A £75,000 race is a great opportunity' - can Prydwen continue his rise up the ranks at Southwell?

Southwell has put tremendous money on the table to secure its first ever Premier fixture and that has attracted some classy stayers to this handicap, headed by topweight Prydwen, who is on the cusp of improving enough to contest Group races.

The battle-hardened six-year-old was unlucky not to get his head in front in some big prizes on turf last year, putting in several good efforts in defeat, but has since proved an even better horse on sand over the winter. He comes here bidding to land a third win in his last five starts.

And he is progressive, too. His last two runs have been career-best efforts on Racing Post Ratings and he built on his narrow second at Lingfield last month when putting in an even better performance to land the marathon at Newcastle's All-Weather Championships finals day last time, for which he was awarded a peak RPR of 109.

An average winner of a Group 3 would usually need to record an RPR of around 112, so Prydwen is just 3lb away from that, and there is a chance he is a Group horse in a handicap.

He has the weight to show for it, though, coming here conceding 9lb to the next in, Tritonic, and they are the only two carrying more than nine stone in a race that looks top-heavy on quality. Oisin Murphy takes the ride on Tritonic, who has to prove he is as effective on the all-weather.

A classy hurdler and three-time Flat turf winner, Tritonic is 0-2 on the all-weather and has yet to finish in the places on the surface. His highest all-weather RPR is 6lb lower than it is on turf, but he did shape with promise on his seasonal debut at Kempton and should improve.
Race analysis by Graeme Rodway

What they say

George Scott, trainer of Prydwen
We couldn't miss this as a £75,000 race is a great opportunity. He has plenty of weight but he clearly loves the all-weather and he's improving all the time, he's run two career-bests in a row.

Alan King, trainer of Tritonic
He had a good blow after finishing fifth in the Queen’s Prize at Kempton, which was his first outing for a while, and he has come on for the run. His main target is the Ascot Stakes in June.

Tom Ward, trainer of Diamond Bay
The cheekpieces sharpened him up a bit at Lingfield. He's come out of that in great shape and should run another nice race.

Philip Hobbs, joint-trainer of Wonderful Eagle
He handled the track well last time and should be suited by the longer trip. He wears a visor as Tom Queally, who rode him then but can't do the weight this time, thought it would help.

Sir Mark Prescott, trainer of Pledgeofallegiance
He was expensive but he did well last year and won three. His last run was his best run. This is a valuable pot and whether he's an all-weather horse we're not sure but he acts on easy turf so we hope he'll handle it.
Reporting by David Carr

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