The British Flat Turf season kicks off at Doncaster on Saturday, as spring kicks into gear. Doncaster’s feature race is the hugely prestigious Lincoln, with a substantial prize pot of £150,000 on offer. William Haggas seems to have a strong hand to play this year, especially off the back of his successful raid in the Irish equivalent last weekend. Haggas’ Al Mubhir leads the market at time of writing but it’s his 14-1 stablemate that has drawn my attention. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Montassib (14-1, bet365) is incredibly lightly raced for a five-year-old, having had just seven starts. Surely this makes him massively unexposed and there has to be loads more to come. His trainer suggested that there is very little difference between this horse and the current favourite. With that in mind, it’s hard to fathom the substantial price difference between the pair.
A son of Exceed and Excel, Montassib won his first three races and has an impressive record of three wins and a second in seven starts. Despite being five, he comes into this race with the profile of an unexposed and progressive four-year-old. Last season would have been a steep learning curve for him and he finished this season with a good second in a competitive handicap at Haydock in September.
Cieren Fallon is set to take the ride and he’s an excellent jockey booking. Haggas said that there’s “not much between them” and 14-1 is still available for his apparent second string. We haven’t seen the best of this horse yet and he could be in for a fine season. Winning this race would be an excellent starting point and I believe he has every chance.
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