Can Roger Varian's So Deuce get off the mark after previous runs against Economics and Heron Stakes winner Almaqam?

Plenty of decent prospects begin their careers at Leicester and there are several interesting newcomers in this mile maiden.

Sahara View is a gelded son of Ribchester, whose dam landed the Ribblesdale and placed in the Yorkshire Oaks. Waldgeist gelding Forest Gate is a half-brother to 2023 Royal Hunt Cup winner Jimi Hendrix. Joolianoss, one of two debutants for James Evans along with Hannasboy, is by Dark Angel and out of a Listed winner.

Top of the pile on ratings is So Deuce for Roger Varian, who strikes at 26 per cent at the East Midlands track.

So Deuce made his debut in a heavy ground Newmarket maiden last November when his rivals included Zoum Zoum, Kikkuli, Balmacara and Economics. The first three are now rated 104, 104 and 94, while the fourth won the Dante and is considered one of the best three-year-olds in training. 

So Deuce, a son of Lope De Vega, shaped reasonably well in seventh that day, although there was more life in his Yarmouth comeback on good ground in April following wind surgery and with a hood fitted. 

He bumped into another smart one when fourth there as the winner Almaqam followed up in the Listed Heron Stakes and is Group 1-bound. 

On the evidence we have, King’s Scholar is So Deuce’s chief threat. Trainer Ed Walker has a 29 per cent strike-rate at Leicester (14 per cent overall) in the last five years, and King’s Scholar stepped forward from an underwhelming start at Kempton to register a staying-on second in a decent contest at Salisbury last time. 

An extra furlong can enable him to make a race of it with So Deuce.
Analysis by Robbie Wilders

Going latest

The soft in places was removed from the going description at Leicester on Monday afternoon and further dry conditions are expected ahead of the track's Flat fixture on Tuesday, when the temperature is expected to be no higher than 17C.

"We changed it this morning to good to soft all over," clerk of the course Jimmy Stevenson said on Monday afternoon. "It's a dry day today and then tomorrow it's quite a dry morning with potentially some light rain during the afternoon."

What they say

James Evans, trainer of Hannasboy and Joolianoss
Joolianoss is a nicely bred Dark Angel gelding who we got from Book One. He's been working well but he's had little setbacks and that's the reason he hasn't run before. He'll learn a lot from the experience and while we're not expecting fireworks, we're hoping he'll make up into a nice horse for later in the year. Hannasboy joined us a couple of months ago for some new owners from Wales. He'll probably find things a bit over his head here, but we're expecting him to be a nice handicapper down the line.

Ed Walker, trainer of King's Scholar
He made a good step forward from his debut to his second run and we think this step up in trip will suit.
Reporting by Charlie Huggins

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