Surrey to Disappoint You

LES ARCS has had an excellent twelve months since his wind operation, landing three victories at Wolverhampton, Musselburgh and Chester and seeing his rating rise 21lb in the process. His fourth place in a big handicap at York last time, where he was staying on best of all over the inadequate 6f, entitled him to joint-favouritism in the really tight 7f Class 2 handicap on Lingfield's Polytrack today.

In the end the real winner was the handicapper, as barely 6.5l covered the entire field as they crossed the line. Les Arcs finished eighth, having been propelled into the leading couple with a furlong to run but then being swamped in the blanket finish which ensued. High class handicaps over an adequate trip are going to be few and far between for him from now until the Spring; I don't know if the plan is for him to resume hurdling now, but he would equally have earned a rest from racing full stop for a few months.

INCA SOLDIER came down to Lingfield as well to contest one division of the colts and geldings maiden stakes, and in the end did much more than keep one of the horseboxes warm on the trip there and back. Once he'd stopped fighting John Egan early on, he settled into midfield before looming as a serious challenger with around a furlong to run. He stayed on rather than scorched forward from that point, but his fourth place finish offered immeasurably more promise than his debut at Nottingham a week earlier, and as these maiden contests inevitably get a little weaker as the autumn days draw in, he could quite conceivably nick one next time out.