The Kalaglow handicap takes place this weekend at Sandown and it is a very competitive handicap where many horses have a chance of winning. Those at home in the UK will be able to watch this competitive race live as it is part of the ITV4 racing coverage this weekend.
The race is ran over 1m 2f and is a class 2 handicap for horses that are three year old and above. We have a good combination of three year olds and older horses in the race, with many horses coming here either on a winning streak, or dropping down in class looking to pick up a win.
The horse that I really like in this race is the lightly raced colt named Across Dubai, who comes here for just his fifth run. He isn’t as experienced as many of the others in this field, but I do believe he is improving and he could be a step above what the other are in the future. He was thrown in at the deep end last time out, stepping up in distance and class to contest a 1m 4f Group 3 race, which saw him well finish last after failing to stay the distance.
I think we will see a different horse this time around and he will perform much better dropped back down to 1m 2f. Before his disappointing run last time out he was a very comfortable winner of a Haydock handicap over todays distance. He only won by a length that day, but he eased to victory and did it very comfortably, showing he was a lot better than his handicap mark at that time. He has since gone up 10lb in the weights but being lightly raced and how easily he won that race, I still think there is more to come from this horse. I am sure he can win a good race off this mark, and he is a huge interest for me on Saturday.
Across Dubai is available to back for the race at 9/2 with Ladbrokes, Ladbrokes and Coral and I think that represents fair value. This is a very competitive race with many horses in with a chance of winning, but Across Dubai could turn out to be much better than them and he is still improving. We have to forgive him his last run, but things went against him that day and if you look back you will see just how impressive he was when he won two starts ago. If that horse turns up and he continues his improvement then he has a huge chance of winning this race.
Elsewhere, although he has a 99 day absence to overcome, Monarchs Glen looks an interesting contender to me. He didn’t seem quite right when running in his last two races, but he has since been gelded and that should have calmed him down. Prior to that he won very easily at Kempton and made a mockery of his handicap mark, which was 87 at that time. It is now 100 so things are much tougher for him, but if he returns fully fit from his absence then he looks to have a good chance in this race.
The last horse to mention is Thundering Blue, an improving horse who has won his last two starts. He comes here looking for the hat trick but with another step up in quality that is going to be tough for him to do. Having said that, he still would have an each way chance in an open race and at least we know he is in form.
I am sticking with Across Dubai as my selection for this race and I think he is potentially a lot better than these rivals. He looks to still be improving and is very lightly raced, I am sure we are going to hear much more about this horse in the future as he works his way through the ranks.
This looks to be a very competitive race, with many horses in with a chance of winning, but I am backing Across Dubai to take the race, before going on to bigger and better things as he continues to improve. He is available to back at 9/2 with PaddyPower and it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw him much shorter on the day of the race. He is an exciting individual, and one I am looking forward to following throughout the rest of the season.