4.30pm Nottingham Tips & Preview – myracing Meeting 15/06/2017

Just the eight go to post in this Class 5 handicap for fillies over a mile and a quarter but there are a number in here who look well capable of rating considerably higher. Read on for our preview and tip on the myracing sponsored meeting at Nottingham.

IN SUMMARY: OCEAN DRIVE could potentially be a handicap blot here on her second to Emenem when last seen. That horse was runner up on Derby day at Epsom in a far better race than this and she is going to be tough to beat. Mirzam still looks well enough treated to be competitive but she drops back in trip and that doesn’t look a positive. Nurse Nightingale needs to step up on her maiden form but it’s reasonable to expect better now that she is handicapping.

1 OCEAN DRIVE – Raced twice over this trip at Lingfield back in January but has been absent for nearly 140 days since. On the second occasion she was runner up to Simon Dow’s Emenem, trying to give that far more experienced rival a pound, Emenem was last seen finishing second in the competitive mile and a quarter handicap on Derby day and is now rated 87 so this mark of 77 looks well within this fillies compass and she could potentially be thrown in if she is ready after a break.

2 MIRZAM – Showed considerable improvement for being stepped up into handicap company when landing a mile and a half contest at Chepstow. She caught a tartar the next time at Salisbury, failing by a length to claw back a very heavily backed handicap debutante of Roger Charlton’s. She is a further three pounds higher up the weights now which is unlikely to be enough to stop her but the drop down in trip is a slight concern.

3 NURSE NIGHTINGALE – Has had just the three runs for her handicap mark so far although she has regressed a little with each run which is a concern. She was two and a half lengths behind Ocean Drive at Lingfield in January, now five pounds better off for that defeat so strictly at the weights there should be little between them. She was sent off 6/5 favourite on that occasion so evidently better was expected but her turf debut at Salisbury was only moderate where she looked on the slow side.

4 JIVE TALKING – Performed creditably as a juvenile over trips from seven furlongs to a mile and a quarter on good to firm, good to soft and the all weather. While that shows her versatility, she produced a similar level of ability under all conditions, lacking any great progression. Her dam, and her half brother (Qatari Hunter) both significantly upped their game as a three year old so chances are she will do better in 2017 but whether that will be first time up after over 200 days off is a question mark.

5 WAVES – Produced a career best by some margin in her first three year old handicap at Bath, ripping a mile contest apart on soft ground. She was unable to continue the improvement on better ground from a nine pound higher mark at Leicester last time out but she shaped as if this further step up in trip would suit, although as her dam is a half sister to the crack sprinter, Society Rock, she isn’t bred to get this far.

6 DARWASL – Hasn’t shown much in three maidens, though in the last of them over this trip, she chased home Listed winner Mori, albeit at a respectable distance. She sports first time blinkers now going handicapping so connections feel that she needs a little something to help her put her best foot forward. Her grand-dam was a half sister to Persian Punch and threw Group 1 winner Aqlaam so there is promise to glean from the family that she is going to be better now seen in this discipline but, she will need to be to better a couple of these.

7 PRIZE DIVA – Showed much improved form when fitted with cheekpieces last week at Sandown in a similar type of race to this. The front pair in that contest both look potentially useful so off the same mark again, an each way squeak can certainly be given to her. The quick turnaround is a niggle of a concern though as whether the headgear will work so well on a second occasion.

8 NAVAJO THUNDER – Showed a little more on her handicap debut at Pontefract, starting off a lowly mark of just 56. She has been dropped a pound but moves into a better class of race and that sees her a pound out of the handicap. Her pedigree suggests that she is going to be capable of better further down the line but she would be something of a surprise winner here,