Royal Ascot 2015: Wolferton Handicap preview (15.05)

Mahsoob looks a pattern performer in the making and can shrug aside a further rise in the weights to land the 1m 2f Wolferton Handicap at Royal Ascot.

The John Gosden-trained colt is unbeaten in three starts, and after running out the comfortable winner of a mile maiden at Kempton back in November put in a stunning performance on handicap debut at Newbury when beating Nancy From Nairobi be a neck.

After being forced to drop in from a wide draw and race in the last trio in the early stages of the contest, Mahsoob making stealthy headway on the outside two from home under a confident Paul Hanagan.

The son of Dansili then quickened smartly to take up the running inside the final furlong, and stayed on strongly to score with far more in hand than the winning margin suggests.

Mahsoob was put up 9lb for that success, but made light of it when putting in a similar performance to land a competitive 18-runner affair at York.

The four-year-old again showed an impressive turn of foot to win going way having come from way off the pace, and it was a very taking performance which showed Mahsoob had a huge engine and was potentially far better than a handicapper.

If that is to prove the case an 9lb rise is unlikely to stop Mahsoob going in again, and I expect him to complete the four-timer before going on to much better things.

First Flight ran well on reappearance at York when third to Mahsoob, and now meets the selection on 5lb better terms having been beaten just 3/4 of a length.

That entitles the Saeed Bin Suroor trained gelding to plenty of respect, but the four-year-old is far more exposed than Mahsoob and may have to settle for place money once again.

The Andrew Balding-trained Collaboration has been in rude health this season and looks sure to make a bold bid to land the four-timer despite being raised a further 7lb for his latest success at Chester, whilst Ayrad is another interesting contender in the hands of in-form jockey Frankie Dettori.