Davis Marnane trained 12/1 favourite Nocturnal Affair to go up in distance in the Portland Handicap at Doncaster
The 5-year-old David Marnane trained gelding, Nocturnal Affair, would relish the 5 ½ furlong distance to endure in the Ladbrokes Portland Handicap at Doncaster on 10 September, 2011.
Right now there are 22 possible entrants to compete in the 5 ½ furlong test.
Nocturnal Affair, owned by Emma Bifova, is being sent off as a 12 to 1 favourite to win the Portland Handicap.
The son of Victory Moon out of Aretha by Centenary, Nocturnal Affair last ran a race at Cork, a race course in Ireland, in the Corkracehorse.IE Handicap, over a distance of five furlongs on ground labelled good to firm.
The race was for 3 year olds and above, with 10 runners in total, Nocturnal Affair finished second by 2 lengths behind Brendan W Duke trained Roicead.
C O’Donoghue paired up with Nocturnal Affair for David Marnane, and right from the outset the two looked prominent, as they made serious strides to outrun the leaders at halfway mark.
Snatching the lead halfway through the race, and heading well over one furlong out, the pair was kept under pressure from runners behind and threatening to close in and steal the lead.
Nocturnal Affair managed to keep the lot behind him at bay, but doing so couldn’t really put any pressure on Roicead, so he slightly fell away to finish second.
Nocturnal Affair recently got recruited from the Marnanestable, South Africa, where he has run most of his races, but got picked up at the Dubai Carnival in the early months of this year.
Nocturnal Affair was making his debut for David Marnane at Cork and finished second, which left his conditioner highly pleased with the 5-year-old bay gelding’s performance.
Marnane believes that Nocturnal Affair should appreciate the step up in the distance at Doncaster which would most likely suit his way of running.
Swiss Dream would be another entry for the Portland Handicap, as the connections preferred Doncaster over a listed race at Goodwood.
The third favourite, Kanaf, and Secret Asset would be notable absentees from the race at Doncaster on 10 September.
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