Morning all,

Back to normal this week. Cheltenham took over last week but my usual Wednesday look ahead to the weekend’s big race action is back.

Just one week on from the end of the Cheltenham Festival and  and behold it’s the start of the new flat season in both Britain & Ireland. Spring looks to have sprung too. Temperatures could get to as high as 20C in the England over the next couple of days and the dry settled weather looks set to continue into the weekend.

Inside today’s main piece I preview the Lincoln Handicap. Plus, there’s a Wednesday selection from Haydock.

SBK Lincoln Handicap (3.35) is the first big handicap of the new season. The ante post betting is headed by the William Haggas trained 4-year-old Mujtaba.

Across the Irish Sea the Curragh hosts the Paddy Power Irish Lincolnshire (4.16). That race and the Group 3 Lodge Park Stud Irish EBF Park Express Stakes (3.41) are the highlights of an eight-race card.

The most valuable meeting of the weekend is being held in Dubai where it’s World Cup Night. There are five Grade 1’s on an eight-race card with the highlight being the Dubai World Cup (4:30) with over £5 million on offer to the winner.

ITV will be covering a mix of flat, all-weather and jumps action from Doncaster, Kempton, and Kelso on Saturday afternoon.

Looking ahead to the weekend

SBK Lincoln Handicap – Doncaster

The going at the time of writing is soft at Doncaster. However, not a lot of rain is forecast for this week so it looks likely the race will be run on good ground.

Looking at the trends. Four-year-olds have won the last five running’s of the Lincoln and all five were officially rated between 98-105.

Much will be made about the draw and with 20+ runners it’s something to consider. It’s worth noting that horse drawn in stall 1-8 are 0 winners from 35 runners 5 places in the past five renewals and are 3 winners from 98 runners 17 placed since 2008. Although from experience genuine class will always trump any stat/trend.

Considering the competitive nature of a big field handicap the top two in the market in Lincoln have done well. Since 2016 the first two in betting have produced 3 winners from 10 runners 6 placed and a £5 profit to a £1 level stake.

Mujtaba: Group horse in a handicap

Mujtaba comes into the race a perfect three from three. He could be a Group horse this year. However, he will probably need to be. In what looks like could be competitive renewal of this annual curtain raiser to the new turf season. His trainer William Haggas is 2 winners from 5 runners +5 3 placed with his runners in the race since 2008 and will be bidding for his fourth win in the race since 2007.

Besides the favourite Haggas also has Ametist & Irish Admiral among the entries at Monday’s final confirmation stage.  Of the latter pair Ametist who finished third in last season’s Cambridgeshire makes some appeal. Especially if Adam Farragher takes off 5lb.

Trainer Charlie Appleby is 2-3 with his runners the race although he did have the well beaten favourite last year. He has one entry this year in Modern News who will be ridden by a useful 7lb apprentice Harry Davies. Modern News improved to win all three of his starts last year. He’s another who could improve again as 4-year-old and has the benefit of a recent run when 3^rd of 16 at Meydan last month.

Notre Belle Bete won the Lincoln Handicap Trial at Wolverhampton two weeks ago. He’s got a 5lb penalty for his latest win. Now the Wolverhampton race hasn’t been a good guide for the Lincoln in recent seasons. However, the 4-year-old has clearly benefited from the switch to the Andrew Balding yard and a winter gelding operation. Given his best Irish turf form, finished a strong finishing 4^th of 12 to Poetic Flare on his racecourse debut, so must be respected.

Northern hopes

It's always worth keeping a close eye on David O’Meara’s runners in the race. He’s got three entries of his three: Hortzadar and Darkness appeal. The former finished a 2-length 3^rd of 18 in last year’s race and races off a 7lb lower now. Darkness a useful juvenile when trained by Jean-Claude Rouget in France. He will be having his first start for yard after a €70,000 move. O’Meara’s won this in 2017 with a runner making his stable debut and Mondialiste was only beaten a neck in the 2015 renewal and like Darkness was also an ex-French recruit.

Brunch is likely to be a standing dish in mile handicaps this season. The 5-year-old finished runner-up last year, beaten 1 ½ lengths, and can’t be ruled out from a 4lb higher mark.

Longshots

Gioia Cieca finished ¾ length behind Modern News here last September in a 7f handicap. He’s 9lb better off with the Appleby horse. Will be suited by the drying ground and looks interesting at big odds

Fame And Acclaim might prefer some juice in the ground but I think the 5-year-old can win a mile handicap this season. Although I have to say Saturday race will be tough one to win.

Verdict: Both Mujtaba and Modern News have the potential to be better than handicappers this season. The O’Meara pair of Hortzadar and Darkness must be of interest as is Gioia Cieca if the going is good or quicker.

Wednesday Racing

There are jumps cards at Haydock, Ludlow and Ffos Las this afternoon and an evening all-weather card at Dundalk.

Haydock

2:45 – Chef D'Oeuvre isn’t the most consistent of handicap chasers these days. However, he did win this corresponding race 12 months ago and can race off 7lb lower.

There was plenty of money for The Late Legend, prior to his last race in the Devon National. He was said to have run to free in the first time cheekpieces that day. Those are dispensed with today and the return to better ground should be a plus for the 9-year-old who is now 4lb below his last winning mark,   

Selection: The Late Legend – 7/1 @ Coral & Ladbrokes.

Good luck with your Wednesday bets.

John