'He seems to be improving' - Expert Agent out to complete back-to-back wins for Kevin Philippart de Foy

Expert Agent broke his maiden when bolting up in a 6f handicap at Kempton in January and races off an 8lb higher mark for his first outing on Lingfield’s Polytrack.

He will be a major player if he can build on that first victory at this track and there shouldn’t be any concern about his ability to transfer the form to Lingfield, as his trainer Kevin Philippart de Foy has a healthy 23 per cent strike-rate at the course. His horses go well here.

There are any number of dangers in the line up and Beautiful Sunrise looks chief among them for James Ferguson’s stable. The son of Exceed And Excel is unexposed after four starts and ran his best race on his all-weather bow when second to Mogok Valley at Kempton last time.

Expert Agent beat Mogok Valley by two and a half lengths before that rival went on to defeat Beautiful Sunrise by two lengths, so a strict interpretation gives Expert Agent the edge on paper. Will that play out on the track?

Oisin Murphy’s presence gives the fixture a boost and he is booked to ride Talamanca for Richard Spencer, who is 3-15 when teaming up with the former champion jockey.

Talamanca has won three of his five starts on turf and returns to the all-weather for the first time since only managing third when sent off the 6-4 favourite for a nursery here last August. His form on sand hasn’t matched up to what he has shown on grass.

Daytona Lady has the best all-weather record, with two wins from eight runs on the surface, but she is more exposed than most of her rivals and looks vulnerable as a result.
Analysis by Graeme Rodway

What they say

James Ferguson, trainer of Beautiful Sunrise
He ran well after a layoff to be second last time and will have come forward from that. We think he’s still pretty well handicapped and the track should play to his strengths.

Kevin Philippart de Foy, trainer of Expert Agent
He won well last time at Kempton and seems to be improving. Although he has a bit of weight to carry, he looks a sprinting type that should appreciate this track. The idea is to go back to Lingfield for the sprint consolation race on Good Friday.

Alice Haynes, trainer of Two Desserts
He’s probably the most unexposed in the race and we are dropping him back in trip but he should enjoy the track. We will look to make use of his low draw in stall two and the plan is to go back there for the consolation race on Good Friday.

Richard Spencer, trainer of Talamanca
He was a consistent sort last year and has had a nice break over the winter. This looks the right spot to start him back and we are hopeful he can run a nice race.
Reporting by David Milnes

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