The sole surviving National Hunt meeting in Britain on Saturday succumbed to the weather on Friday morning, when an inspection found the track at Taunton to be frozen beyond any hope of recovery, but some schedule tweaking by the British Horseracing Authority has ensured that the £100,000 Winter Oaks Fillies’ Handicap at Lingfield will now be the feature event on ITV Racing’s eight-race schedule.
The Lingfield card was originally due to start at the unusual time of 10.10am, as the first of a series of meetings moved from the afternoon to mid-morning under the BHA’s newly launched “Premierisation” scheme.
It was then shifted back by just over two hours, to ensure that there would be at least one meeting on Saturday afternoon, while the four races being covered by ITV will start a further 15 minutes later than billed, to allow the addition of four more races over jumps from Navan to the schedule.
Jumping fans will no doubt notice the hole left by the abandonment of valuable cards at Ascot and Haydock, but it could also be argued that the Winter Oaks would have been a little wasted in its original slot. It has – at the time of writing, at least – a competitive eight-runner field to attract each-way punters, and a very backable favourite in Oh So Grand (3.10).
Simon and Ed Crisford’s four-year-old notched four handicap successes in 2023 and the last of those – over track and trip in December – saw her produce a remarkable turn of foot after turning for home with just one rival behind her. Oh So Grand is up just 4lb in the ratings for that cosy success and is a decent bet at around 9-4 to continue her progress up the ladder.
Kempton Park: 1.00 Moe’s Legacy 1.30 Aljezur 2.00 Charlatan 2.30 Doves Of Peace 3.00 Cloud Cover (nb) 3.35 Magic Fluke 4.10 Amwitihani
Warwick: 1.05 Givemefive 1.35 Lightening Mahler 2.05 Break My Soul 2.35 Malaita 3.05 Seefin 3.40 Shot Boii 4.15 Tea Clipper
Plumpton: 1.15 Villainess 1.45 Extraordinary Man 2.15 Idy Wood 2.45 Jacamar 3.20 Lanspark 3.55 Birdman Bob
Newcastle: 3.50 Eagle’s Realm 4.25 Royal Prospect 5.00 Only In Jakarta 5.30 Brownlee (nap) 6.00 Good Morning Alex 6.30 Eleven Eleven 7.00 Star Zinc
Lingfield 1.25: Roger Varian’s Amazing should back up her improvement when stepping up in trip in December.
Navan 1.55: If he can brush up his jumping a little, Lord Erskine could make the most of a 10lb turnaround with Harvard Guy since their race here in December.
Lingfield 2.00: A wide draw makes things trickier for Al Rufaa but he should have a decent pace to aim at.
Navan 2.30: Mighty Jeremy improved for what was effectively his seasonal debut when fifth at Fairyhouse in December and remains fairly weighted on that form.
Lingfield 2.35: The drop back to five furlongs will suit One Night Stand, who is out of the handicap but has a much better chance on his best form than odds of around 16-1 might suggest.
Navan 3.05: An interesting beginners’ chase which should see Minella Cocooner, a Grade One winner over hurdles as a novice, get off the mark over fences.
Navan 3.42: Tangental is potentially very favourably weighted for his first chase start since a switch to Colm Murphy’s yard.
