Candy’s Signor looks sweet in St. Wilfred
The big handicap race on Saturday takes place at Ripon, where 20 runners will line up for the William Hill Great St. Wilfred Handicap at 3.30pm local time. Last year's winner Markab came from the stable of Henry Candy, who has a very good chance of following up in this season’s renewal with Signor Peltro. His run last time in the Totesport Mile at Goodwood was very unlucky, as he met with severe traffic problems throughout the race. Under the circumstances, he did well to finish 10th and his previous efforts this year show him in a different light.
On his second start of the season, this seven-year-old contested another valuable handicap at Goodwood. On this occasion, he made rapid late headway, but unfortunately the line came too soon and he lost out by short head to Tropical Paradise. He met with more bad luck at Windsor next time, when yet again denied a clear run throughout. Once a gap finally appeared, he made up ground in good style to take fourth place behind Parisian Pyramid. Given better luck here, he must surely go close.
The favourite here is likely to be Tajneed who took this event back in 2008. Trained by David Nicholls, he comes into this season’s race in decent form and his shrewd stable will fancy their chances following a good draw in stall 20. His best effort this term came over course and distance, when beating Abraham Lincoln by three parts of a length in a decent handicap.
However, his last run in the Sky Bet Dash at York was rather peculiar as he swerved violently coming out of the stalls. He then appeared reluctant to race before staying on in the closing stages to finish in mid division. Possibly laid out for this race, that performance was far from encouraging and off his current handicap mark, he would need to be at the top of his game. Therefore, he looks worth opposing, as his odds of around 7/1 do not make much appeal in such a competitive contest.
Nothing comes into this race in better form than Tim Easterby’s Favourite Girl, who has won four of her last five starts. Her victory last time out in the Victor Chandler Handicap at Ayr, where she battled on gamely to deny Pavershooz, was probably a career best performance. The only real concern would be her draw in stall three, as history suggests this is not the favoured side of the course to be on. If she overcomes that possible hindrance, she would be a major player here and would surely make the frame at the very least.
Similar comments would apply to the Richard Fahey trained Quest For Success, who generally hits top form at around this time of the year. His run last time when filling the runner-up spot in a listed event at Chester, suggests it will be no different this term. Denied a clear passage, he stayed on nicely in the closing stages but could not quite get to the winner Masamah. Unfortunately he does not look to have fared too well with the draw either, and appears to have plenty on his plate from gate one.
Tiddliwinks is an interesting contender from the Kevin Ryan yard. This four-year-old has had a terrific season on the all weather surfaces at Kempton and Wolverhampton, winning three handicaps. If he could translate that form to turf, he would have an excellent chance and his run last time at Goodwood, suggests he is capable of doing so. Detached out the back early on, he was in the process of moving in to a challenging position, when suffering traffic problems. Once in the clear, he picked up in good style, running on in to fourth place behind Joseph Henry. Given a little more luck, he could run a big race here and will be a threat to all.
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