The majority of horses struggle in maiden and novice company and it’s not until they make the switch to low grade handicaps that they begin to thrive. Handicaps are designed to give every horse an equal chance of winning and offer opportunities for horses to progress and improve.
There are four eye-catching handicap debutants who could be well worth following at Southwell on Tuesday. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Queensmaite has had three starts so far and she wasn’t beaten far when third on debut over course and distance. The step up to 7f clearly didn’t work at Doncaster next time but it was a better display when dropped down to 6f at the same course after that. An opening mark of 63 looks reasonable and she can improve significantly.
La Scanderbeide actually got off the mark with a smooth performance on debut at Yarmouth in July, scoring by two-and-a-quarter lengths. Failing to stay under a penalty over two furlongs further a month ago, the return to a mile is a plus and George Boughey’s filly can progress in this sphere.
Great Dream has shown plenty in three starts so far but switching to handicaps can facilitate the shedding of his maiden tag. He was a respectable fourth in a course and distance novice last month and should be sharper this time around, as that was his first start for 227 days.
Edward Bethell’s Coedana already has two second and a third to her name and it’s hard to argue with an opening mark of 74. She was beaten by Understudy when second over course and distance in May and that filly went on to finish second in the Ribblesdale Stakes. Improvement seems likely now tackling handicaps.
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