Three things to note: a pointer to £100,000 final, Phil Kirby eyeing Musselburgh repeat and Boodles runners back in action
Potential final aim for Yalla
Fontwell's six-race card features the AK Bets Watch All UK Racing Maiden Hurdle (2.40), one of the final qualifiers for the Novices' Championship Hurdle Series. The £100,000 final takes place at Sandown on the last day of the season, and among those bidding to secure their spot in the line-up is Yalla Habibi, who makes his first start for Harriet Dickin after switching from Tony Charlton. He is winless after three runs over hurdles, but showed enough when a narrowly beaten third in a maiden hurdle at Hereford last month to suggest he should be competitive. The runner-up, El Granjero, got off the mark when winning by nine lengths next time out.
Can Star strike again?
Phil Kirby landed last year's Go North Lady Buttons Mares' Hurdle Series Final (5.05) – named after his former leading light – with Lone Star, and the seven-year-old is bidding for a repeat win at Musselburgh off a 1lb higher mark. Two of her five victories have come at this track and she was last seen finishing fourth here in February under Joe Williamson. Her rivals include the Sandy Thomson-trained Parvos, who qualified with a five-length success at Sedgefield in February, and Sunday Soldier. The latter has risen through the ranks with four wins on the bounce this season and is now on a mark of 114, having scored here in December off just 78.
Festival form put to the test
The Go North Grey Bomber Juvenile Hurdle Series Final (5.40), one of four series finals on the card, looks competitive and features three horses who ran in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at the festival in Balboa, Latin Verse and Teorie. The last-named fared best of the three, finishing tenth behind Lark In The Mornin for Fergal O'Brien, and is prominent in the early market alongside Golden Maverick, who arrives in good form for Jamie Snowden after justifying odds-on favouritism in a Haydock qualifier last month, when he stretched five lengths clear of Ma Belle Artiste.
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