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Improving Shyron on target

3 minute read

Newmarket trainer George Margarson is preparing the progressive Shyron for the £45,000 Ladbrokes Handicap over seven furlongs on Polytrack at Lingfield Park on February 21.

George Margarson Picture: Racing and Sports

This will be ahead of a potential tilt at All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 3.

The four-year-old son of Byron has won on three of his four starts during the current All-Weather Championships, most recently producing a devastating turn of foot under Martin Lane to annex a £45,000 handicap over the same course and distance by a length on January 23.

Shyron took another Lingfield Park seven-furlong handicap on December 31 by three quarters of a length, again with Lane in the saddle.

His only defeat this season came when second to the prolific Rich Again after encountering trouble in running and failing by a neck in a seven-furlong handicap on Tapeta at Wolverhampton on December 22.

He started this All-Weather Championships season with success, with Lane taking the mount, in a seven-furlong Wolverhampton handicap on November 17.

Margarson said: "We gave Shyron a week off after his win last time and the plan is go back to Lingfield on February 21 for another £45,000 handicap over the seven furlongs.


"He also has the option of a seven-furlong Fast-Track Qualifier at Wolverhampton (March 7). It is possible that he could take in both but I don't want to overdo him.

"He is a progressive horse and I think he is still well handicapped on the back of his last win. It all went smoothly for him but he did it well and is definitely going the right way.

"His next start will tell us whether or not we are good enough for Good Friday. The initial thought would be the mile but I am thinking about the sprint as well.

"He went wrong in his only start over a mile at Yarmouth and, although I'm pretty sure he will get it, he does show a lot of speed. I will enter him in both races and take it from there."

There are two Fast-Track Qualifiers on the same super card at Lingfield Park on February 21, the Listed Unibet Cleves Stakes over six furlongs and the Listed coral.co.uk Winter Derby Trial over 10 furlongs, both also worth £45,000.

Woolfall Sovereign has already guaranteed his place in the £150,000 Unibet All-Weather Sprint Championships on Good Friday, April 3 after annexing a Fast-Track Qualifier at Southwell on New Year's Day.

The nine-year-old ran below expectations on his most recent outing, trailing home last of eight in a five-furlong handicap at the same course on January 20.

Margarson added: "Woolfall Sovereign wasn't right when he ran at Southwell last time. He could also go to Lingfield on February 21 for a six-furlong Fast-Track Qualifier.

"He is a four-time winner at Lingfield but he also has the option of the seven-furlong race at Wolverhampton on March 7. He has won over seven and a mile because has a bit of class but I think he is better going flat out over five or six.

"I think he would have a good chance on Finals Day because he will get a strong pace, although he has never won a race outside December or January!"

Horses qualify for the seven championship contests on the £1.1-million All-Weather Championships Finals Day (Good Friday, April 3, 2015) by winning a specified "Fast Track Qualifier" or running in a minimum of three races at Britain's five All-Weather tracks, Lingfield Park, Southwell and Wolverhampton, owned by ARC, The Jockey Club's Kempton Park and Chelmsford City, between October 30 and March 30.