Midget to grow in stature at Beverley
Declan Carroll’s lightly raced three-year-old filly Midget can rise above the opposition and capture the Birthday Celebration Fillies Handicap at Beverley on Thursday. Nine runners are set to go to post at 3.15pm and Midget is returning to the scene of her one and only success to date, which came on her very first racecourse appearance as a juvenile, back in 2009.
She stayed on strongly that day to account for Mal And Dave by half a length and may have suffered training problems shortly afterwards, as she was not seen out again that season. On her return to the track in April, she ran very disappointingly in a Nottingham handicap, where having made the running in the early stages, she went out like a candle a furlong from the finish, trailing home in fifth place behind Kyladdie.
Further poor efforts followed but she appeared to recapture her form on her penultimate outing, when beaten in a three-way photo finish in an ordinary handicap at Carlisle. Raised two pounds for that performance, she was far from disgraced last time at Ayr, coming home three lengths adrift of Rio’s Girl. This will be her first attempt against older horses, but she is able to run off the same mark here which gives her every chance.
Getting a high draw over five furlongs at this track is very important and can often make the difference between winning and losing. Midget will have no problems coming out of stall eight and should therefore be able to gain a handy position. Her pilot for the afternoon is the young apprentice Neil Farley and he is able to claim a further seven pounds, which will add to her prospects of victory.
The main threat is likely to come from Comptonspirit who has been in excellent form this year. In fact, she has made the frame in her last six outings, which have included three wins, the last of which came when this admirable mare made all the running to land a handicap at Bath, beating Desperate Dan by just over a length. The runner-up that day has since gone on to score at Brighton, so the form looks solid.
The same remark applies to her final start at Pontefract. On this occasion, she could not quite get to the trailblazing Mr Wolf, and eventually had to settle for third place. Just in front of her in second was King Of Swords who has also recorded a victory since, and this is a positive sign that Comptonspirit is currently at the top of her game. However, stall two here is far from ideal and attempting to give away twelve pounds to Midget will be no easy task.
Arriva La Diva is sure to have her supporters with the current leader in the jockey’s championship, Paul Hanagan set to take the mount. She comes into the contest in reasonable form too, having won a handicap at Musselburgh on her final outing. She won quite comfortably there, beating Mandarin Spirit by almost two lengths. On the downside, that was not a particularly strong event and she appears to have little in hand of the handicapper. She will also have to overcome the worst draw of all in box one, and all things considered, she looks up against it.
The best of the outsiders here is Miss Daawe who has some very good course form to her name. In fact, her last visit to this track resulted in success, beating Namir by three parts of a length. The reason why she may go off at a big price is down to her last run, which came in a handicap at Newcastle. She ran well below par there, finishing well beaten behind Cross Of Lorraine, but the rain softened ground could be the reason for that poor showing. She could easily return to form here and given her course record, she has every chance of making the frame.
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