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Lingfield Park and Wolverhampton play host to four Fast-Track Qualifiers this Saturday.
This will be offering horses a final chance to automatically gain a place for All-Weather Championships Finals Day at Lingfield Park on Good Friday, April 3.
A superb seven-race card on the Polytrack at Lingfield Park includes the 10-furlong £100,000 Group Three Coral.co.uk Winter Derby (3.05pm, 18 confirmations), with the winner receiving a berth in the £200,000 Coral Easter Classic over the same course and distance on Good Friday.
Grendisar (Marco Botti) is 4/1 favourite with Coral following a pair of 10-furlong Listed wins at Lingfield Park, most recently when beating Lamar (14/1, James Tate) by a short-head in the Coral.co.uk Winter Derby Trial on February 21.
Last year's Coral Easter Classic victor Grandeur (5/1, Jeremy Noseda) could only finish fourth behind Grendisar and Lamar after meeting trouble in running. The John Gosden-trained pair of Cloudscape (8/1) and Maverick Wave (20/1), who were third and fifth respectively, could also re-oppose.
Australian Group One winner Side Glance (6/1, Andrew Balding) is due to make his first appearance since finishing fourth in the Group One Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in October, while Battalion (7/1, William Haggas) has already booked his Coral Easter Classic place with an impressive win in the Coral Churchill Stakes in November.
Captain Cat (8/1, Roger Charlton) captured the Ladbrokes Mile on Good Friday last year before going to a pair of decisive Group Three successes on turf.
The six-year-old was fifth in the Group One Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on British Champions Day at Ascot in October before trailing home last of 10 on his most recent start in the Group One Hong Kong Mile at Sha Tin on December 14.
Roger Charlton reported today: "Captain Cat is a likely runner in the Winter Derby. He is in good form and I have been happy with him.
"His run in the Hong Kong Mile was disappointing. It was probably the only race he ran last season that was really disappointing - maybe it was the travel, maybe it was the end of a long season, but I don't know. I wasn't expecting to win but I hoped that he might have been fourth or fifth.
"He has run well over 10 furlongs before and we will see how he gets on over the distance again. He would have needed to run in a mile qualifier to get into the race he won on Finals Day last year and there weren't any suitable races for us, so we are running in the Winter Derby instead."
Other contenders for the Coral.co.uk Winter Derby include Tryster (6/1, Charlie Appleby) and Complicit (8/1, Paul Cole), who are both unbeaten on the All-Weather this season.
Coral.co.uk Winter Derby - Coral prices:
4/1 Grendisar, 5/1 Grandeur, 6/1 Side Glance, Tryster, 7/1 Battalion, 8/1 Captain Cat, Cloudscape, Complicit, 14/1 Lamar, 16/1 Educate, Tenor, 20/1 Maverick Wave, 25/1 New Story, Pinzolo, 33/1 Afonso De Sousa, 40/1 Sennockian Star, 50/1 Rebellious Guest, What About Carlo
Each-way 1/5 odds, 1-2-3
The £45,000 Listed Unibet Hever Sprint (3.40pm) over five furlongs on the same card is a Fast-Track Qualifier for the £150,000 Unibet All-Weather Sprint, with 11 entries including Alben Star (Richard Fahey), who won the Good Friday contest last year.
Dungannon (Andrew Balding) went down by a head in a Southwell Fast-Track Qualifier at the start of the year, while Pretend (Charlie Appleby) was an impressive winner of a Wolverhampton handicap on March 1. Recent course and distance scorer Boom The Groom (Tony Carroll) and Group Two scorer Masamah (Marco Botti) have also been entered.
The winner of the seven-furlong £45,000 32Red Spring Cup (2.30pm), also at Lingfield Park on Saturday, earns a spot in the £150,000 32Red All-Weather 3 Year Old Mile.
The contenders for the seven-furlong contest include Kempton Park Group Three winner Burnt Sugar (Richard Hannon), dual Dundalk victor Charlie Bear (Jamie Osborne), Doncaster conditions race scorer Angelic Lord (Tom Dascombe) and Four Seasons (Charlie Appleby), who has already captured a Fast-Track Qualifier at Lingfield Park.
Wolverhampton's seven-race card on Saturday features the £19,000 Daily Enhanced "Magic Multiples" At Unibet Conditions Stakes (6.45pm), which offers automatic qualification for the £150,000 Unibet 3 Year Old Sprint on Good Friday.
Group Three Molecomb Stakes runner-up Fast Act (Kevin Ryan) and Primrose Valley (Ed Vaughan), who is seeking a four-timer on the All-Weather, head 12 entries for the five-furlong Tapeta sprint, which could also feature Wentworth Falls (Charlie Appleby) and the unexposed Wild Tobacco (Richard Hannon).
