Frantic Friday with four runners at Newbury and two at York

May 15

It is very rare for Alan not to have a single entry for Saturday, but he makes up for it with a busy Friday, four runners at Newbury, plus a couple heading up to York for the final day of the Dante meeting.

Alan has always considered Brioni to be one of his middle-distance horses with a big race in him this season, and it might well be the Class 2 handicap on the Knavesmire, which has a wide-open look.

He said:”Brioni’s final race last season and his first this campaign were disappointing but both were at Newmarket and it seems that the Rowley Mile course does not bring out the best in him.”

Add to that, those races were over a mile and 12 furlongs, and Alan has always thought that the interim distance of a mile and a quarter suits Brioni best, so fingers crossed he can reproduce the form he showed at Ascot, Goodwood and Sandown last season.

We also run the talented but unpredictable Westerton in the same race. He did not take to hurdling in the winter, but a four month break seemed to do him good because there were definite signs of better things to come when he finished sixth at Goodwood a fortnight ago. Hollie Doyle rode him for the first time that day, so doubtless she will be able to pass on a few hints to her husband Tom Marquand, who now takes over.

First of the Newbury quartet to run is Nap Hand, whom Luke Morris rides in the 10-furlong handicap. It was testing ground when Nap Hand won over the course and distance last October, so it will be interesting to see how he copes with these contrasting underfoot condition. He has had a break since he last ran, over hurdles at Newbury in early March.

Bedford is next up for the maiden, and he will have learned a lot from his debut at Chelmsford two weeks ago, while Blue Tempest, who was gelded in the winter, ran his best race yet when going up in distance at Beverley last month, so he ought to give Hollie Doyle a good ride in the mile and a quarter handicap.

Our final shot is with One Cool Dreamer, for whom Oisin Murphy has been booked for the mile and a half handicap, in which he has top weight. He has run well in his last two races, at Kempton and Goodwood, and he was twice a winner last season, so with first-time cheekpieces he ought to again be competitive.