'I expect him to be very close' - Mick Appleby reveals a strong fancy

Wednesday: 2.15 Nottingham
racingtv.com Handicap| 5f | 2yo+ | RTV

Two-year-olds rarely tackle their elders despite the enticing weight-for-age allowance, but the inclusion of the Alice Haynes-trained Josies Kid in this 5f sprint brings added intrigue to an otherwise standard handicap.

The son of Ardad showed speed before fading on his first four outings in novice company, but a gelding operation in September was the catalyst to a much improved and professional display from Josies Kid.

His York success was a notable step in the right direction and the form stacks up with runner-up Korker being tried in the Group 2 Flying Childers earlier in a prolific campaign that saw him win three times.

This is a much tougher task for Josies Kid and juveniles generally have a poor record against older rivals, but he will carry a featherweight of just 8st and Haynes is 3-10 with her runners in the last 14 days.

Market expectation suggests four-timer-seeking Raasel, who has improved beyond recognition since joining Mick Appleby, will be his chief danger. The revitalised Show Me Show Me, who bumped into one on rain-softened ground at Pontefract last time, shouldn't be overlooked.

An electric early gallop is expected with speedsters Zargun, Zim Baby and Dark Shot in the line-up and a notable pace collapse could suit hold-up performer Count D'Orsay.
Race analysis by Tom Collins

What they say

Scott Dixon, trainer of Zargun and Dark Shot
Dark Shot is running on Tuesday but he is the kind of horse you can run the next day. He should be rated 100 but he doesn’t try very hard, so if he comes out sound then he could run. I’m not sure what happened to Zargun at Doncaster as he came out of his win at Catterick well, but we can’t find an issue with him and sprinters don’t always run the same way twice, so it might be different this time.

Mick Appleby, trainer of Zim Baby and Raasel
They're both in good form. Raasel should go well and I expect him to be very close. He has a great chance and will like the ground. Zim Baby is in good order. She's been getting a bit lazy in her races, so the cheekpieces should wake her up a bit. She ran on Saturday and came out of the race well.

Karl Burke, trainer of Rebel At Dawn
He seems really well and has been in great form for most of the season. He didn't get the six furlongs that we tried him over last time, which was a bit of an experiment. He's a winner at the track and won't mind a bit of cut in the ground. We're hopeful rather than confident.

Bryan Smart, trainer of Wrenthorpe
He loves Nottingham and has never been out the first two there. The more rain the better as he relishes the soft ground. Graham [Lee] told me after his last race that he didn't need cheekpieces. I realised that he's never won with them on since the first time, so they're off for this race.

Alice Haynes, trainer of Josies Kid
He's the only two-year-old in the race and has 8st, so he should skip along and give a bold account for himself. He came out of his last race extremely well. He missed running at Nottingham two weeks ago as it was a little close to his York run and I thought I would aim him at this instead.
Reporting by Catherine Macrae

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