'He should be a nice horse next year' - Botanical blooms at Hamilton for Roger Varian

Botanical blossomed in the feature 1m1f handicap to set up bigger targets in 2024 for Roger Varian.

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's three-year-old was beaten on his handicap debut at Ascot last month but relished the slower surface in Scotland to breeze clear for a six-length win under Ben Curtis.

It was a second victory for the 11-10 shot after he broke his maiden at the Scottish track in July.

Varian said: "He won it really well and he should be a nice horse next year. The handicapper will have his say and will know whether it's a strong race but hopefully he's not too hard on us – he seems like a Class 2 horse and we'll see if he can climb the ladder a bit next year.

"I think ground is quite important to him, he was beaten on a sounder surface at Ascot the time before. I'm not sure if we'd run again this season."

The victory completed a double for Curtis after he partnered Winged Messenger to take the 5f maiden stakes. The Julie Camacho-trained juvenile was striking after consecutive second-place finishes.

Back to form

Zarabanda returned to winning ways in the 1m½f fillies' handicap for David O'Meara and Danny Tudhope after a hat-trick bid was thwarted last time at Leicester. The Nottingham and Ripon winner had two and a quarter lengths to spare over Fiver Friday.

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