Jarvis has good reason to be cocky with Royalist

Published on Thursday 9 October 2008 09:59

MICHAEL JARVIS can do little wrong at present and appears to have found Royalist a winning opportunity in the Kent Land Reclamation Handicap at Lingfield.

The Newmarket handler has by some distance enjoyed his best season for a few years, with winners from Kremlin House showing no sign of abating just yet.

In Royalist, a son of Guineas winner King's Best, he appeared to have a decent prospect on his hands at the start of the season after he won a Doncaster maiden with ease.

Having cut little ice in three subsequent runs over trips ranging from five furlongs to a mile, the handicapper has only relented 1lb – but this looks a more realistic target.

Jeremy Noseda's juveniles usually know their job first time up but Applause was green as grass on her debut over seven furlongs.

Owned by the Coolmore triumvirate of John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, this Danehill Dancer filly has plenty of stamina in her pedigree and will relish the step up to a mile for the Mark Bausola Maiden Fillies' Stakes.

Houghton is one of Sir Michael Stoute's lesser lights but it may be worth sticking with him in the wolverhampton-racecourse.co.uk Handicap at Dunstall Park after he picked up the winning thread at Great Leighs.

Another owned by the Coolmore team, he is a half-brother to the classy Yellowstone and also needs a real test of stamina.

Third behind the reopposing Factotum on his penultimate start at Leicester, he is better off at the weights this time and could well have improved a good deal.

The National Hunt season is just about to swing into action, with Carlisle staging a decent card. Howard Johnson runs Astarador in the Anderson Denton Homes Ltd Beginners' Chase and he has the potential to go to the top. He won a decent race at Musselburgh in February and could be pretty smart if taking to fences.