4.45pm Doncaster Tips & Betting Preview 27/10/2017

4.45pm Doncaster tips for Friday’s race. Ten furlongs on good to soft going awaits the ten declared here with just ten pounds covering them from top to bottom. Read on for our free betting tips, predictions and analysis. 

IN SUMMARY: An interesting race but one that can go the way of POUVOIR MAGIQUE who has room for plenty of further improvement and can be forgiven his last run when he was thereabouts until fading late on over further and on far worse ground. Back in trip and on a better surface now, he can prove that run all wrong here and win his second race for trainer John Gosden, though Ajman King is not passed over lightly and looks a very serious danger, with the finish expected to be fought out by the two of them. 

1 AL HAMDANY – Possibly happier on the all-weather surfaces with his only two career wins at Chelmsford and Kempton and a good second back there last time out but he does seem to handle the turf as well with a head second at Pontefract in the Listed Silver Tankard Stakes last year as a juvenile. Races off a pound higher than when second to Koeman last month and may struggle to give weight away all round today.

2 SULTAN BAYBARS – David Egan takes three pounds off his back today but jockey bookings suggest Ajaman King may well be the Roger Varian first string. He has won on the all-weather to take his maiden back in September last year on his first ever race but not in eight races since and he step up in trip to this ten furlongs for the first time here and is not guaranteed to stay as a son of Invincible Spirit.

3 CANBERRA CLIFFS – Trainer Don Cantillon does wonders with his small string and is one of the shrewdest out there as he looks to land the hat-trick with his filly this afternoon. Victories at Sandown off 79 and then at Bath off 84 see her carrying a new mark of 88 this afternoon as well as a rise in class but she may yet have more to offer with Fran Berry taking over in the saddle, and a big run seems on the card over a trip and track that should suit her down to the ground.

4 POUVOIR MAGIQUE – A highly promising debut third when beaten less than a length was followed by an expected maiden win at Ayr when sent off at a prohibitive 1/12 before failing to handle the soft ground and/or the longer trip at Newmarket when last of four to The Grand Visir over a mile and a half. That was his handicap debut and he is fully entitled to improve with further experience, while the drop back in trip also seems sure to suit, and he won’t be far away again now if the going remains on the quicker side.

5 AJMAN KING – Presumably the Roger Varian first string with Andrea Atzeni riding and the son of Lope De Vega took four races for the penny to drop and finally win his maiden at Epsom at the beginning of the month by two lengths from the less experienced Dash Of Spice. His attitude is solid and he does look the sort who can only improve now he is sent handicapping off a reasonable mark of 85 and he seems sure to get involved in the finish here. 

6 GLENYS THE MENACE – With three wins from four starts and a second between July and August she has already more than paid her way for the season but looks up against it here with the handicap taking a dim view of those efforts and punishing her with extra weight accordingly. She has only been dropped a single pound for finishing nine and a half lengths ninth of eleven at Ascot but this is a lesser race and she could finish mid-division here with a weight drop needed before she wins again.

7 ARMANDIHAN – A change of tactics nearly paid off last time out for the son of Zoffany when he was held up by jockey Kevin Stott (rides again today) before being produced late on to be beaten a neck by Road To Dubai. Sadly that has seen him put up four pounds which seems harsh and can hardly help his slim chances but if they produce him even later today he could still pull off a shock result granted plenty of luck in running.

8 SOCIETY RED – Possibilities that even this ground could prove a fraction too soft to see him at his best but he has got recent winning form after scoring by a neck at Beverley over this trip in September. Last time out at York he was well beaten when thirteen lengths adrift of winner Grand Inquisitor but this looks slightly lower quality and he could do better. The Richard Fahey Paul Hanagan combination can never be ignored but he does look up against it here. 

9 CE LA VIE – The booking of Jamie Spencer to ride catches the eye for the daughter of Dutch Art who started the season at Group level with a seventh in the Group Three Park Express Stakes at Naas and a twenty-eight length thirteenth of fourteen in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket. Dropped in class since she returned from over four months off with a poor fifth at Ayr and she needs to do considerably more to take a hand now despite being dropped four pounds by the handicapper after her last race.

10 ANDOK – Yet to really prove that he has trained on as a three-year-old after some decent efforts at two when winning at Redcar and here at Doncaster in a Class Two Nursery. Six races this season are yet to see a victory but he did run his best race for a while when fourth at Windsor last time out, and off bottom weight today he could yet threaten the places with any further improvement.