Walton Street has chance to give Raymond Tusk St Leger form a boost

3.00 Doncaster

William Hill Mallard Handicap| 3yo+ | 1m6½f | ITV4/ATR

The form of Newbury's Group 3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes will get a thorough working over at Doncaster this week and connections of runner-up and St Leger contender Raymond Tusk will be hoping for a bold show here from Walton Street.

The Godolphin runner missed out on second at Newbury by a nose and has already shown he is adept at handling the demands of a big handicap when filling third place in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot.

One of only two three-year-olds in the line-up, the John Gosden-trained Ben Vrackie finished a decent second to another Leger hopeful Maid Up at Goodwood last time, and will be making just his fifth start.

A year older but still relatively unexposed, Reverend Jacobs tries a trip two furlongs further than he has attempted before. He has looked progressive for William Haggas.

What they say

Iain Jardine, trainer of Nakeeta
The Ebor was a better race this year and I think he ran a fantastic race, considering he didn't get the clearest of runs. It took a couple of runs to get him where we wanted after the trip to Melbourne but I feel he's as good as when he won the Ebor in 2017. Callum Rodriguez won the Ebor for us and this is the last race in which he can use his 3lb claim.

Iain Jardine believes Nakeeta is in similar shape to when he landed the 2017 EborCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Eve Johnson Houghton, trainer of On To Victory
He has loads of ability but was a bit naughty at Newbury and decided he wouldn't go in the stalls. He's had a stalls test and was fine. He's had lots of practice and will have Gary Witheford with him. I'd be happy if a bit more rain falls as he likes to get his toe in.

Alan King, trainer of Just In Time
He won well at Goodwood and we've been happy with him. I just hope the ground doesn't dry up too much as he loves a little bit of juice. He's been progressive all the way through and has won five of his last eight. This looked the logical place to go.

William Haggas, trainer of Reverend Jacobs
After he won at Newmarket I made a mistake running him again at Pontefract, but he's had a nice break and is ready to go now. I've been looking to step him up in trip although I'm not convinced he'll be better at it. He's got a bit of a wide draw so we'll have to do one thing or the other.

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