Paul Kealy has doubts over warm favourite Motamayiz in Bath handicap

4.15 Bath
Saltford Handicap | 3yo (0-78) | 1m | Sky

A race which revolves around Motamayiz and his ability to reproduce the form of last week's runaway three-and-three-quarter-length win over course and distance under a 6lb penalty.

The handicapper thinks he can as he has raised him 9lb, meaning he is 3lb well-in, but Motamayiz raced in first-time blinkers then. He had to be rousted along to get interested early and they need to work again.

Possibly even more worrying is trainer Roger Varian's record with horses running under a penalty. The meticulous Newmarket trainer landed four winners at Royal Ascot, but returning horses quickly after a win rarely figures among his plans.

Indeed, he has run only 20 horses under a penalty since 2012 – and the bad news for favourite backers is that 19 of them lost, eight of them at odds of shorter than 2-1 (one at 1-4).

Motamayiz certainly has the ability, but he might not be the most hardy of battlers and it might not be that simple anyway, as his rivals include Dartington, who had him two lengths back in third when scoring at Lingfield 26 days ago.

Because Motamayiz has won since, the pair meet on the same terms, so Marcus Tregoning is entitled to think Dartington has a chance assuming he takes to turf (all four runs have been on the all-weather).

There are other lightly raced horses from decent yards too, and Brian Meehan's Macho Boy, running in first-time cheekpieces after a poor show on his return, might prove the most interesting.

His second to the now 107-rated Highest Ground second time out last term certainly reads well in the context of a mark of 78, and Jason Watson has five wins and five seconds from 25 rides for the yard.

Analysis by Paul Kealy

What they say

James Tate, trainer of School Of Thought
He's always gone nicely at home but has been a bit disappointing on the track. He went well in headgear the other day and I hope that can improve his form a bit. It's his second time on the grass, I wouldn't be too worried about it, it's just a question of getting him to produce his homework on the track.

Brian Meehan, trainer of Macho Boy
I think he got stopped in the dead ground at Doncaster last time, when he came back he wasn't quite right. He's going on a sounder surface and, apart from a few days off after Doncaster, he's been tip-top. He ran two nice races last year but we're putting a line through his last run and feeling positive for this.

Marcus Tregoning, trainer of Dartington
He's potentially quite a nice horse. I think he'll get further than a mile but I think we've found a good race for him. He's a big horse so hopefully he'll improve from Lingfield. The grass won't be a problem, he's got a turf pedigree and he works on it at home. It's a good galloping track and he should be suited to it well.

Reporting by James Stevens

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