'He ticks plenty of boxes' - Appleby hoping Bright Melody shines in ITV opener

1.50 Newmarket
"My Oddsboost" On Betfair Suffolk Stakes | 1m1f | 3yo+ | ITV/RTV

The value of a good apprentice’s claim should never be underestimated in big handicaps like this and it looks significant Andrew Balding has booked William Carver to ride Bell Rock.

Bell Rock has been professionally ridden on all nine starts but Carver takes over claiming his 5lb allowance and there aren’t many better than Balding at using the talents of apprentices.

William Buick and champion jockey Oisin Murphy both cut their teeth under the Kingsclere trainer and, of the six trainers to have saddled more than 100 winners under claiming riders on the Flat in Britain since the start of 2016, Balding has the highest strike-rate (14 per cent).

Carver takes over from Murphy, who has been on board for his last five starts, and Bell Rock runs the Rowley Mile well. He has won two of his three starts at the track and the only defeat was an excellent third of 27 in the Cambridgeshire over course and distance in September.

His two course wins were achieved first time out, on his debut in 2018 and in a handicap after 332 days off in June last year, and his formidable record when fresh will stand him in good stead.

Ralph Beckett has a 16 per cent strike-rate (21-131) when booking claiming riders since the start of 2016 and there isn’t an apprentice riding better than in-form Laura Pearson in Britain.

Although she is 0-4 for the Beckett stable, she has had a second and fourth from that small sample. She bids to put that right on Mascat.

Mark Johnston generally does well in handicaps like this, but he has struggled in this one in recent years. He is 0-8 since 2011 and tries to break his duck with Overwrite and Maydanny.
Race analysis by Graeme Rodway

Which Maydanny will turn up this time?

When Maydanny is good he’s very, very good. His two wins last summer both came on fast ground and were achieved by an aggregate of almost nine lengths, the highlight being a spectacular five-length success at Glorious Goodwood.

Big-field handicaps at that prestigious meeting take some winning, but Maydanny simply annihilated his 17 rivals from the front under Silvestre de Sousa and looked a potential Group-race performer.

The son of Dubawi is bred to be smart and a subsequent York disappointment can be attributed to unsuitably soft ground.

Maydanny: could prove better than a handicapper this yearCredit: Pool

The 1m1f of the Suffolk Stakes on fast terrain looks tailor-made for Maydanny to launch his five-year-old career in some style, and Charlie Johnston, assistant to trainer Mark Johnston, in a recent Racing Post stable tour revealed that he hoped the gelding could develop into “a stakes horse” in 2021.

He said: “Maydanny had soundness problems, but his 1m2f handicap win at Goodwood was impressive and his only two flops have been on soft ground. He could improve into a stakes horse.”

Maydanny bypassed the City And Suburban Handicap at Epsom to wait for this.

Johnston also has a strong second string in Overwrite, who has already landed a handicap on the Rowley Mile this spring, the form of which was franked on Wednesday by runner-up Oh This Is Us at Ascot.

What they say

Charlie Appleby, trainer of Bright Melody
He won nicely on his last start in Dubai and did well there over the winter. He’s been back in Newmarket for some time; he was one of the early ones who returned. He ticks plenty of boxes for the race and, although 104 is getting to the top of his mark, he’s a fit horse.

Hughie Morrison, trainer of Starcat
He’s in good form and has been working well. I just hope the horse that we think he is turns up this time. He proved himself a good horse when he won on his only start as a two-year-old, and we ran him in the 2,000 Guineas. However, since his win he has failed to replicate his homework on the racecourse. We’ve had no issues with him and I’d say he’s fairly treated on 91, but there are others in there who also look on decent marks.

Stuart Williams, trainer of Al Muffrih and The Gill Brothers
It’s Al Muffrih’s first time on turf for us. The races he’s been contesting on the all-weather have generally been slowly run and haven’t suited him. This race on turf might suit him better. The Gill Brothers has come out of his race at Newbury well, but needs to prove he’s not just an all-weather horse. He’s yet to reproduce his best form on turf.
Reporting by Richard Birch

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