THE Cambridgeshire Meeting begins on Thursday and top of the charts is the Group 3 Tattersalls Stakes.
The seven furlong heat for two-year-olds has attracted seven runners and it is no easy task picking through the field.
Despite the lack of numbers, it is a real motley crew of runners. Some with plenty of experience, some with little.
Karl Burke’s Lord Of The Lodge will be popular with punters. He was a much improved second to Threat in the Gimcrack last time out.
That form is rock solid, with the winner going on to triumph in the Champagne Stakes under a penalty in good style.
But Burke’s youngster’s form is patchy to say the least and he very much got the run of the race at York, where front runners tend to do plenty better than most.
The ground is his final nail in the coffin. The ground will likely be against him and at the prices, the value looks elsewhere.
Another of the busier horses that deserves a nod is Mark Johnston’s Monoski.
He is another pace angle here and ran a huge race last time out to finish fourth to Pinatubo in the National Stakes and Johnston has won the last two runnings of this.
However, he is another vulnerable to an improver and there are a couple of lurkers in here.
3.35 Newmarket: WICHITA @ 2-1 Bet Now
Ropey Guest is an admirable horse but his form has certainly hit a plateau now, while Persuasion has a big point to prove after his York flop.
Oh Purple Reign is a respectable yardstick for Richard Hannon but has always found one or two a bit better when upped to Stakes company.
Hannon’s supposed second string Manigordo also needs to step up to compete here.
That leaves me with Aidan O’Brien’s WICHITA who has only had the two starts but is very much on the up and looks a promising sort.
He won a decent maiden on debut, before backing that up with an easy second to Molatham in Listed company.
Had Ryan Moore been a bit more demanding there, there could have been a different result. But he looks ready to step up now.
He will definitely need further in time and O’Brien doesn’t have the strongest record in this, but races like this need to be taken horse-by-horse and he has bay far the most potential.
There will be plenty of pace on, and it should be run to suit this horse as Moore can keep him covered up and kick on when needed.
