The 7f, 0-65 handicap at Lingfield Park (2.40pm) looks competitive enough for the grade, but Highly Dancer has drifted to a very tempting price and is worth betting.
It may not have been much of a race that she won at Wolverhampton last time, but she easily beat off the others that raced close to the pace and had the prize in the bag some way from home, just idling a little in the closing stages.
The runner-up that day, Say It As It Is, didn’t have the clearest of runs and is now 3lbs better off. She also has the assistance of Ryan Moore in the saddle today, but though she has an obvious chance, she lacks both the pedigree and scope of her Wolves conqueror and there is no way the price discrepancy should be anything like it is at the moment.
Though David O’Meara has been in the headlines with Group 1 Jebel Hatta winner Lord Glitters in Dubai, he is only 2-65 in the UK this year and Highly Dancer was the first of those successes. The second of them came at Newcastle yesterday and the team do appear to be hitting some form.
Highly Dancer should improve for that first run of the year and she is a half-sister to two black-type performers for this owner, notably the high-class Dance And Dance. Her dam had a mark of 105 as a three year old, so it is a family with a lot of ability, which offers encouragement as regards the possibility of further improvement.
She has a good draw in stall 3, is the only runner from the yard on today’s card and is overpriced to record a second career win.
2.40pm Lingfield Park – 1pt win Highly Dancer @ 8-1 (Bet365, Skybet, BetVictor)
