Last weeks turf sprint action kicked off with Pontefract on Tuesday and the Class 3 6f Handicap went to Richard Fahey's gelded Polski Max who won by 5 lengths from Mark Jonston's Flashlight. The winner was drawn 1 and was quickly away and in command before quickening and keeping on towards the finish. He has been raised a large 10lb by the handicapper to a mark of 97 but he should be capable of winning again judged on this.
At Nottingham on Wednesday Mayfield Girl recorded a topspeed figure of 80 in beating The Art Of Racing a head in the Class 4 Handicap over 5f 13 yards on going described as Good (Good to Soft in places) and has been raised 2lb to 81. In behind Moviesta ran well but found trouble in running and deserves another chance off the same mark of 83.
The following Class 3 Conditions Stakes was run in a similar time and was won easily by Spririt Quartz as he was entitled to do.
The only other race of any note was on Saturday at Doncaster and it was the Class 2 Bet 365 Handicap over 6f in which Move In Time beat Shropshire by three quarters of a length with Hitchens the same distance back in third. The winner was winning over 6f for the first time and he was able to shrug off the extra 10lb on his back and he now goes up another 6lb to 101. Shropshire ran another solid race and even though he has gone up 3lb he looks like being involved in these big handicaps all year and he was only beaten by a well handicapped rival here.
This was a competitive race and Hamza showed up well for a long way on his first start back for Kevin Ryan and he should be winning soon as he remains on the same mark of 101. Yeeoow also did well as he was on the wrong side of the track to where the pace was and he wasnt beaten far in fifth and he is another we have to keep on the right side of, plus he was the Pricewise selection along with the winner. King Of Jazz was another to note as he didnt get the best of runs and he finished to some effect.
Others to be dropped 2lb were Harrison George - 85, Farlow - 87, Prodigality -100, Colonel Mak - 92 and veteran Tax Free - 90.
David O'Meara said of the winner "He's proved today that he's fairly versatile trip wise but the jury is still out over whether he's better at five or six furlongs. We gelded him before Christmas and he's a nice horse to have. Where we go next, I don't know - we'll see what the handicapper does."
As for Jack Dexter who finished a dissapointing 12th Jim Goldie said afterwards "I think it was a combination of things really, but largely the ground. It was very loose ground, they'd raced on it a fortnight before and then rolled it. He'd run there at the Lincoln meeting on soft ground and won but Graham (Lee, jockey) said it was the ground on Saturday".