Lingfield Preview: Quest primed to open account

Singular Quest has shaped with bags of promise in two runs and can take another step forward to open his account in the 1m 2f maiden at Lingfield today (2.00).

The Ralph Beckett trained colt was well-backed on debut over a mile at the track, and caught the eye in no uncertain fashion when staying on strongly to finish fifth of 11 to Awesome Power.
The son of Dalkhani ran very green and was quickly playing catch-up at the rear of the field before the penny finally dropped.

Singular Quest then picked up nicely under tender handling to be beaten seven lengths, and it was an effort which suggested there should be plenty more to come.

That impression was confirmed last time out over course and distance when the three-year-old got outpaced in a slowly run race when the pace quickened three from home before rallying strongly to go down by a diminishing 1/2 a length to Monein.

The winner is a smart sort who has gone on to follow-up in good style on handicap debut at Wolverhampton, and Singular Quest won’t have to improve much on that run to go one better this afternoon.

There are a couple of interesting newcomers in the line-up, most notably the Godolphin-owned Prussian Blue, but Singular Quest’s form sets a decent standard and his racecourse experience is a major plus which gives him the edge.

In the 2m selling handicap (1.30), Olymnia is interesting now fitted with the blinkers for the first time having dropped markedly in the weights.

The Robert Eddery trained filly has yet to win in 12 runs on the level, but has hinted at ability and should be up to making an impact at this lowly level.

The four-year-old ran her best race when keeping on well to finish fourth of 11 to Blue Talisman over 1m 6f on handicap debut off a mark of 61 at Redcar last May when sent off the well-backed 7/2 second favourite.
Olymnia has since failed to build on that effort, but is now able to race off just 48 as a result.

That makes the daughter of Teofilo potentially well-treated in this weak looking class 6 selling affair based on her run behind Blue Talisman.

The step up to 2m should also suit judged on that effort, and if the fitting of the headgear has the desired effect then Olymnia looks weighted to go well at a big price.