Tonight's racing: three runners who catch the eye at Chelmsford and Dundalk

A double delight on Friday night with Chelmsford and Dundalk holding fixtures under the floodlights. Dundalk (5.30) kicks off the action followed by Chelmsford (5.45) with the racing on At The Races.

Norwegian Reward
5.45 Chelmsford

A lot has changed since Norwegian Reward last ran.

Brexit, President Donald Trump, the careers of Churchill, Winter and Barney Roy have all come and gone in the days after August 18, 2015 – the most recent occasion the nine-year-old ran.

Norwegian Reward is twice a winner, off tonight’s mark of 45 and off 52, so he is not without a chance on his first run for 850 days.

Russian Soul
7.00 Dundalk

You can almost hear Russian Soul saying ‘home, sweet home’ to himself as he returns to his beloved Dundalk tonight for the first time in nearly a year.

A six-time winner at Dundalk, Russian Soul has returned to the care of trainer Mick Halford having spent most of 2017 in Britain with Jamie Osborne, who sent the nine-year-old out to win once in nine starts.

Russian Soul’s previous 68 runs had been for Halford, so he will not have needed too much time to get used to the old boy, who takes on the likes of G Force, Naadirr and Captain Dion.

Sleepy Head
9.00 Dundalk

Nine starts, three wins and a 15lb rise in the ratings since the summer. The question is: how much further can Sleepy Head go?

The four-year-old’s three wins have come in his last four starts and he is up just 2lb for his success over course-and-distance last month.

With Pat Smullen in the saddle again and a good draw, Sleepy Head looks a strong contender in the final race of the evening.

Keep up to date with all of this evening's action with Raceday Live