Lingfield Preview: Maverick Wave can leave rivals all at sea

Trainer John Gosden has an excellent record with his runners at Lingfield, and Maverick Wave can further enhance it with victory in the 1m 2f handicap on this evening’s card (7.40).

Colt Maverick Wave looked a smart prospect when winning on debut over 7f at Leicester last season, racing prominently before showing a nice turn of hoof to score by 2 1/4 lengths in a good time.

This race has thrown up plenty of subsequent victors, including Beach Bar and Raise Your Gaze, who are now rated 89 and 87 respectively and finished a well beaten fifth and tenth.

That is useful form, and makes Maverick Wave look on a potentially lenient mark of 84 on handicap debut.

The son of Elusive Quality does have an absence of 317 days to overcome, but Gosden’s runners a rarely found wanting through lack of fitness, and the Newmarket handler does exceptionally well with his runners in this type of contest.

In the 1m race (7.05), Varsovian looks a potential improver now tackling handicaps for the first time.

The Dean Ivory-trained gelding has failed to trouble the judge in three maiden runs, but caught the eye in the last of those at Nottingham when staying on from off the pace to finish seventh of 14 to Bombardment.

Varsovian was not knocked about once it was clear he would not be winning, and the son of Refuse To Bend should be up to making an impact at this level off an opening handicap mark of just 59.

Multitask has been disappointing on the turf in recent weeks, but looks well-weighted after returning to his favoured polytrack surface in the 6f handicap (8.10).

The gelding has won four times at the track, and three of those have come over this evening’s trip of 6f.

Trained by Michael Madgwick, the four-year-old is now just 3lb higher than when beating Rigolleto by a cost 3/4 of a length in the last of those and, in a race that should be run to suit Multitask, look capable of defying top-weight in what seems a very winnable class 5 contest.