Tony McFadden provides an overview of the key things to note on Thursday.

Three points of interest

Gallant form given another boost

The form of Gallant‘s novice win at Kempton in October had already been handsomely advertised by the penalised runner-up West Acre going on to win a couple of Group races in Meydan and the third home, So Darn Hot, landing a couple of competitive all-weather handicaps during the winter. However, So Darn Hot offered a further reminder of the strength of the form when producing a near-smart performance to decisively win a sprint handicap at Windsor on Monday.

Gallant has yet to progress like the two placed horses from Kempton, but there has been encouragement – as well as excuses – and he retains the Timeform ‘small p’ to show that he remains a likely improver.

He was entitled to need the run when only fourth in a Lingfield novice on his return to action in March but he built on that on his handicap debut at Newmarket the following month, for all he had to settle for the same position. Gallant wasn’t seen to best effect at Newmarket, where he made late headway to fare best of those ridden patiently, but he was inconvenienced to a much greater extent at York last time.

Gallant, sent off the 7/2 favourite, travelled nicely enough but was badly short of room along the rail and never got the opportunity to show his worth, barely coming off the bridle. He was given Timeform’s Horse In Focus Flag, marking him out as one likely to be of interest next time, and the suspicion is that a BHA mark of 84 underestimates him based on his Kempton victory. The step up to a mile at Lingfield (15:50) asks a new question, but he looks the one to beat.

Ratings suggest Arch Legend can snap losing sequence

Arch Legend hasn’t won since registering back-to-back victories on his first couple of starts in handicap company last season, and the losing run now stands at 12. There have been more disappointing runs than good ones in that time, but the handicapper has relented as a consequence, and there have been more encouraging signs since joining Ruth Carr ahead of this turf campaign.

Arch Legend was only fifth and was beaten more than ten lengths at Beverley on his stable debut for Carr, but he shaped better than that result would suggest as he caught the eye with the move he made into second only to fade inside the final furlong having raced keenly.

He duly stepped up on that effort when runner-up at the same venue last time, but was unlucky to bump into a resurgent rival who had also fallen a long way in the weights.

Arch Legend looks well treated off the same mark and heads Timeform’s weight-adjusted ratings for the mile-and-a-half handicap (17:17) at Hamilton by 3 lb based on his latest effort. He ran to a better level when bolting up in a Wolverhampton handicap last season off a 7 lb higher BHA mark, so it’s possible he could have even more in hand now back in the groove.

Leopardstown maiden worth noting

We saw a leading Queen Mary Stakes contender emerge at Nottingham on Wednesday when Zelaina landed the five-furlong fillies’ maiden, and it would be little surprise were further Royal Ascot clues to be found in the opening seven-furlong fillies’ maiden (16:20) at Leopardstown on Thursday.

It was certainly an informative event last season as subsequent wide-margin Chesham Stakes winner Bedtime Story got the better of shorter-price stablemate Giselle, a filly who is set to contest the Oaks on Friday.

O’Brien again has a couple of contenders this time around in Moments of Joy and Minerva, with Ryan Moore opting to ride the latter. Minerva is by Frankel and out of a Grade 2-winning sister to the top-class Mohaather, and the Coolmore partners had to pay 1.5 million guineas to acquire her at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last year. It will be interesting to see whether she can add to Ballydoyle’s strength in the juvenile division – stablemates Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin (both 109p) are Timeform’s highest-rated two-year-olds as things stand.

Moore – who has a 33.6% strike rate at Leopardstown since the start of 2020 – also rides Acapulco Bay in the King George Cup (17:25). Acapulco Bay was last of five in the Derby Trial Stakes won by stablemate Delacroix last month, but he had looked promising before that and comes from a smart family, so it would be little surprise to see him get back on track. Indeed, he tops Timeform’s weight-adjusted ratings by 1 lb.

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