Southwell and its Fibresand surface are not to everyone’s taste, but I yield to no one in my devotion to the track and its resistance to Tapeta and Polytrack. Not, of course, that there is anything wrong with either, but for as long as Southwell sticks to the sand, there will be horses that love it and, just as important, plenty that don’t.
The result, of course, is that many races here have several previous course winners in the field, but those that have spent time racing elsewhere can sometimes be overlooked.
Mithqaal, for instance, could well start at odds-on for the one-mile handicap this afternoon, having powered clear to win on his Fibresand debut over seven furlongs at Southwell a few days before Christmas, and his dirt pedigree suggests he will be well suited by the surface.
There are four more previous course winners in the field, all of them successful at today’s trip, and Mithqaal’s short price means that several are available at attractive odds. Vivat Rex (2.20) is the pick of them, however, at around 11-1, as the market seems to have considered his most recent success here, in a seven-furlong claimer, and forgotten about his impressive victory on his only previous start at Southwell, in March 2015.
Vivat Rex was racing from a 5lb lower mark than today’s, and powered seven lengths clear of his field in a good time. That was the high point of his career to date, he remains unexposed on Fibresand and may prove to have been a very shrewd claim by Conor Dore after his latest start.
Space War (3.50) is interesting on the same card for broadly similar reasons. Mick Easterby’s 10-year-old has run 23 times since his only previous start at Southwell, a comfortable success off 62 back in May 2015. He is thoroughly exposed but anything close to that form would give him an excellent chance today at around 9-2.
Men United (12.45) has been running consistently of late and has an obvious chance earlier on the card, while at Wolverhampton, Mahican (3.10) is the outsider of the field and has a long absence to overcome but would have a solid chance if fit enough on his first run for Jennie Candlish.
The only jumping of the day is at Lingfield, where Casse Tete (1.00), a relative of the brilliant two-miler Azertyuiop, is a fascinating runner for Gary Moore on his British fencing debut. Heroes Or Ghosts (2.00) was second to a horse who went on to run well in the Sussex National last time out and could get off the mark over fences today, while Steel City (2.30) is interesting in the handicap hurdle with promising claimer Daniel Sansom taking off 10lb.
