Unexposed sprinter Flying Fletcher could be a potential Finals Day candidate following an impressive start to his All-Weather Championships campaign at Newcastle last week.
Richard Fahey’s three-year-old clocked eye-catching closing sectionals as he took a six-furlong handicap by two and a half lengths, with the handicapper responding with an 8lb rise to 85.
Flying Fletcher is now unbeaten in two appearances over Newcastle’s six-furlong course, having posted a similarly dominant success at the track in December.
The son of Muhaarar will look to capitalise on his latest victory when he shoulders a 6lb penalty in a six-furlong handicap at Chelmsford on Thursday.
Tim Palin of owner Middleham Park Racing said: “Flying Fletcher seems to get on particularly well with the all-weather – and the style of racing at Newcastle suits him because he is a big, long-striding horse.
“We have him in again at Chelmsford on Thursday. We could be backing him up a wee bit quickly, but the race is there and it looks the right race for him. You would be hopeful of him following up.
“We read him wrong earlier in his career as he was strong through the line over seven furlongs. Back to sprinting seems to have been the making of him. He has had a few niggles along the way, nothing serious, which has forced us to give him a bit of time.
“The beauty of Finals Day now is that you have meetings at Newcastle and Lingfield Park and they are all handicaps. Even if you are in the 0-90 bracket, there is a nice race for you, but if you’re rated a bit higher than that, you can be fishing for some real big prize money. Hopefully, Flying Fletcher will be good enough for the main event at Newcastle.”
Elsewhere, Lady Of Spain looks a player in the Fillies & Mares category after she made it three wins from as many all-weather starts in a Southwell handicap. Roger Varian’s filly, who previously captured a pair of novice races at Wolverhampton, has been given a revised rating of 90.
Charlie Johnston joins Varian at the top of the All-Weather Champion Trainer standings with nine wins. Johnston’s recent winners include the stayer Cool Party, who secured a second success of the season in a class two contest at Kempton Park.
Billy Loughnane meanwhile leads the All-Weather Champion Jockey table with 13 successes as he looks to follow up last season’s All-Weather Champion Apprentice title. Luke Morris is next best on 11, with Jack Mitchell third on nine.
Umbria is one of the big handicap movers of the week, with Ed Walker’s filly going up 10lb to 77 for winning an 11-furlong handicap by five lengths at Kempton Park. She could now look towards the BetMGM Winter Oaks Trial at Lingfield Park in early December.
Over in Ireland, Sakti took the feature race at Dundalk as she provided trainer Ger Lyons with a third straight victory in the Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Cooley Fillies & Mares Stakes. Connections will now decide whether the daughter of Caravaggio stays in training next year.
