Key punting pointers and trainer quotes for the £100,000 Lavazza Stakes

3.55 Ascot
Lavazza Stakes (Heritage Handicap) | 1m4f | 3yo | ITV/SKY

Baasem bids for a hat-trick in this competitive handicap and trainer Owen Burrows is hoping the assessor was right to raise his progressive three-year-old 20lb for his last two victories.

Baasem thundered home by 14 lengths at Doncaster last time but the trainer is keeping his feet on the ground.

"It was a visually impressive success," said Burrows. "He's gone up in the weights and hopefully the handicapper is right.

"I've been very pleased with him and the ground should be fine. We always thought he was capable but he surprised me last time. He's strengthening up but I wouldn't like to say whether he could progress out of handicaps, we'll have to wait and see."

The progressive Cirque Royal also bids for a hat-trick for trainer Charlie Appleby, who also runs Court Poet.

Look down the market

Short-priced runners have a poor record in this race with seven of the last nine winners returning at odds of 8-1 or bigger.

Roger Varian is no stranger to landing handicaps at big prices. He last won this race with Battersea in 2014 and attempts to strike again with Apparate, the mount of Rossa Ryan.

Roger Varian: 'Apparate will appreciate the ground and the track'Credit: Edward Whitaker

The son of Dubawi was beaten a head by Dubai Tradition at Newmarket last time and his trainer is confident of a big run.

"He'll appreciate the ground and the track," said Varian. "He's been training well since he was touched off at Newmarket and should go well as he's well drawn in stall two."

Cap Francais bids to bounce back

Ed Walker is hoping Cap Francais can get back on track after failing to land a blow in his last two starts at Group 3 level.

After shaping well in second at Epsom, Cap Francais finished fourth in the Lingfield Derby Trial before finishing down the field in the Hampton Court at Ascot and the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood.

"We still believe he's better than a handicapper but he's been a bit disappointing since his reappearance," the trainer said.

Ed Walker: hoping Cap Francais can get back on track after disappointing runsCredit: Edward Whitaker

"We thought he'd win the Lingfield Derby Trial and he ran well but didn't quite get home on the soft ground. He ran respectably in similar conditions at Ascot but Goodwood was a horror show.

"He behaved badly and wasn't concentrating, which is why he's been gelded. He's been in great form at home and this is his first run in a handicap. It's a wide-open race full of unexposed horses but hopefully he can get back on track."

Gosden bids to follow up

John Gosden won this race last year with First Eleven and attempts to repeat the dose with Travel On, who makes his first turf appearance since finishing fourth in a Sandown Group 3 in April.

The son of Lope De Vega has finished down the field on his last two starts on the all-weather and Gosden said: "It's a race for three-year-olds, which will be fine for him. He needs to redeem himself back on the turf after a couple of modest efforts on the all-weather."

What they say

Charlie Johnston, assistant to his father Mark Johnston, trainer of Persian Moon
He ran well in defeat at Chester last week but his best piece of form all year has been when fourth in the King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot over this trip and if he bounced back to that he would have a good chance.

William Haggas, trainer of Faylaq
He's in good form after coming back from his mini summer break and the hope is he remains progressive.

Stuart Williams, trainer of Rhythmic Intent
I'm going to see how much rain they get overnight and into tomorrow before deciding whether he runs. It's a competitive race but he's in good form.

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