3.20pm Nottingham Tips & Preview – myracing Meeting 15/06/2017

The feature race on the Nottingham card this afternoon, a six furlong sprint worth over £9,337 to the winner! Read on for our expert tip and full runner by runner preview for our myracing sponsored race.

IN SUMMARY: GEORGE BOWEN has to be one of the most frustrating horses in training but as he showed at Epsom on Derby day, he is extremely well treated and this doesn’t look the most competitive race of it’s type. Magical Effect is well thought of by Ruth Carr so he and similarly lightly raced, War Whisper, look the pair to chase the selection home.

1 SEEKING MAGIC – Admirable veteran has never been the easiest to win with, winning five of his forty-nine contests but placed on twenty-one occasions. September 2015 was the last time he hit the line in front but one has to go back to August 2013 for his last win on turf. That 2013 victory at Goodwood came in the Stewards Cup consolation race from a mark of 93, three pounds higher than he runs off here, a victim of his own consistency since. He has not been at his best the last twice but they came at Class 2 level, a drop to a Class 3 should see him more competitive but he has no more than an each way chance.

2 ESCALATING – A winner at this track over five furlongs on Sunday, making him a perfect 2/2 at this venue. A gelding operation over the winter has been the making of him, taking his form up a notch, now just a pound below his career high mark. He needed every inch of that five furlongs to force his head in front so the step back up to six is in his favour but that win on good to soft is the quickest turf he has won on, a significant concern with the ground drying out and drawn widest of all.

3 SYRIAN PEARL – Chris Wall’s mare does her winning in bunches, notching a hat-trick in the Spring and Summer of 2014 and then three in a four race span in 2016. The last of those came over this course and distance so no fears for her at the track but a five pound rise for that has taken her to a career high mark, one that she struggled with on her Doncaster return in May. She has a poor record fresh so she is likely to improve for the cobwebs being blown away but she has work to do to score from this mark.

4 GEORGE BOWEN – Frustration personified, he ran a huge race in the sprint that closes out Derby day, staying on from the back in his habitual fashion, not quite getting to the leaders in time. He remains on the same mark of 86 here, some five pounds below his latest winning mark. Undoubtedly well enough handicapped to land this competitive looking sprint, he gets the vote to finally put a win on the board from this lenient looking mark.

5 LOVE ISLAND – She broke a yawning losing run, stretching back well over two years when getting her head in front at Ripon last August. That was her third win at the Yorkshire track, supplemented last time out when beating just three rivals on the Newcastle Tapeta. She has won from 91 in the past so this mark of 84 may not be enough to stop her, with the hood refitted last Summer contributing to a more consistent run of form.

6 ENGLISHMAN – Becoming a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde character but won off this same mark at Windsor in April 2016 so is certainly here with a chance if putting his best foot forward. He picked up another Windsor handicap earlier this season, gamely making all. There aren’t many others who go from the front – Magical Effect and Seeking Magic have – so if able to get an easy time of it from a draw close to the stands side rail in 8, he holds place claims.

7 WAR WHISPER – Lightly raced four year old has just the eight races to his credit so far. He still looked green on his 2017 return when finishing third at Ascot in May. The first, second and fourth on that occasion were drawn 22, 21 and 16 so his effort coming round the outside of the field down the middle of the track from 8 can probably be upgraded. He failed to confirm the impression at Goodwood since but that race didn’t suit those held up, he remains capable of better if there is enough pace on up front.

8 RANTAN – Developed a bout of seconditis of late, finishing in the runner up spot four times in his last five races, including three times off this mark of 82. Those have been in Class 4 contests with his worst effort of the five runs coming on the quickest ground he encountered. The ground looks like continuing to dry out in this spell of warm weather so conditions are unlikely to suit him.

9 JOHNNY CAVAGIN – Has the plum draw next to the stands rail but with a record of 1/14 when racing above Class 4 level he probably lacks the ability to capitalise. He will have no issues with drying ground but his two most recent wins over this trip have come at Pontefract which is a much stiffer track and he could well get outpaced in this deeper contest.

10 MAGICAL EFFECT – As consistent as they come at a lower level, finishing outside the front three just once in ten career races and that was when fourth. He acts on any ground and being lightly raced for his age there should be more to come with trainer Ruth Carr saying “He’s a horse with good ability and the big sprint handicaps are in reach if he can handle everything about those big days” after he won at Ripon in April. This is a step up in class but he shouldn’t be discounted in a wide open contest.