'This is the next step forward' - can Paborus continue his good form for Ed Bethell on his handicap debut?

Paborus: Won comfortably at Carlisle last monthCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

As in yesterday’s 6f Macmillan Sprint at York and next week’s Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot, you are looking here for a horse with a big potential up side.

Competitive three-year-old handicaps do not always go to lightly-raced sorts with obvious improvement in them but that is usually the smart way to bet.

Ed Bethell has been a man to follow in this sort of race in 2024, with five individual winners including Britannia fancy Mickley and two others who scored on this course, and his Paborus is the obvious starting point of any discussion.

The trainer called him an "exciting prospect" before the season started, when he was unafraid to suggest he could develop into a Pattern horse. Nothing has happened since to suggest he was wrong, as Paborus was the comfortable winner of novice events at Redcar and Carlisle last month by a combined total of nearly seven lengths.

He has more to offer after just three runs and is just the sort to prove himself well treated on a mark of 90 on his handicap debut, provided the forecast rain arrives.

But Diligent Resdev is another whose ultimate level can only be guessed at after just three outings and he is already proven in handicap company. Don’t let his starting price put you off – there was no fluke about his 40-1 success at York last month and he should build on that here.

And among many other likely candidates, Candonomore should not be discounted. He looked a much-improved horse when winning at Haydock first time out this season. His run in a handicap back there last month was too bad to be true and he could well bounce back in a first-time tongue-tie here.

What they say

Ed Bethell, trainer of Paborus
I'm looking forward to it but he'll run only if the rain comes. He's a nice horse and this is the next step forward in his career but he won't run if the ground is too quick.

George Scott, trainer of Piz Nair
We're hoping the majority of the rain stays away but he looks a horse on the improve and he got the trip well last time.

David Easterby, joint-trainer of Diligent Resdev
I was chuffed to bits with his win at York and he's come on since then. He's an improver, he's got bigger and stronger. And we've got a jockey in form who knows the track in Joanna Mason.

Tim Easterby, trainer of Candonomore
He's in great form. I don't know what happened to him last time but he'll still be a good horse. We've put a tongue tie on because he puts his tongue over his bit a bit, he always has done but he doesn't choke or anything.

Craig Lidster, trainer of Longhaired General
He's really well in himself. I threw him in at the last minute with a view to going for the Carlisle Bell, I wanted to see whether he's good enough. It's his first time in a handicap and he's on 77, he needs to improve on that to make sure he can have a chance up there.

Read the rest of our Sunday previews:

3.05 Chantilly: Will Tamfana or Dance Sequence waltz to Classic glory in an open-looking Prix de Diane?

3.16 Gowran: 'This trip will suit her' - Sluice the obvious starting point to give Joseph O'Brien a second success in trappy handicap

5.45 Thirsk: 'The form of his Goodwood race is very strong' - key quotes and analysis for Thirsk's big-field sprint handicap