Quixote’s British efforts could only really be described as average at best so far, but all that can change with victory in the sunbets.co.uk Handicap at Southwell today.
The German-bred seven-year-old has plied his trade in Europe in previous years, winning a Listed event in Germany back in 2013 and lifting a handful of very moderate contests on the all-weather in France too.
He will be having his first start for David Loughnane here having initially been campaigned by Tony Carroll in this country, with a mixed record of success.
Quixote did not really show too much on the turf last summer or in the pre-Christmas all-weather period, however, his fourth at Lingfield in January marked him as a type to be finally finding his feet.
Lining up in a similar event to this, he had an unfavourably wide draw but soon got to the front and only narrowly failed to make all, eventually settling for a one-length fourth after being swamped in the finish.
The handicapper has steadily eased him down the ratings from a starting point of 97 to his current perch some 7lb lower and that ease can prove crucial.
Fiery Spice is on quite a roll and can keep up the good work with a fourth successive verdict in the 32Red.com Handicap.
He kicked off his winning spree in a maiden at this track in January before following up with victories at Newcastle and Southwell already this month.
Fiery Spice has a habit of edging left in the finish so is perhaps not totally straightforward, but he certainly has oodles of ability and it should be noted Robert Cowell turns him out under a penalty here rather than waiting for him to be reassessed.
Clan Des Obeaux can get his campaign back on track in the Higos Insurance Services Novices’ Chase at Exeter.
Paul Nicholls’ runner appeared to be a possible Festival challenger when running out a wide-margin winner of a Newbury Grade two back in November, but things have not really gone to plan since.
He was turned over as an odds-on favourite at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day but given he was beaten just a nose by subsequent RSA Chase second Whisper, the form of that effort looks particularly strong and he was duly sent off the market leader for a Grade One heat at Sandown in February.
He turned in a shocking run that day to finish last of five but the soft ground was probably not ideal and Nicholls’ yard was hardly firing on all cylinders at the time either.
Clearly Clan Des Obeaux had excuses, so he really should be setting the record straight here as he is vastly favoured by the conditions of the race.
Nap: Quixote
(4.25: Southwell)
Double: Fiery Spice
(3.50: Southwell)
Treble: Clan Des Obeaux
(3.40: Exeter)
Yankee: Bear River
(2.20: Wetherby)
