Wolverhampton Preview: Little Lord Nelson has a big chance

Little Lord Nelson has a progressive profile and could well have got in lightly on handicap debut in the 7f contest at Wolverhampton today (6.15).

The Stuart Williams trained gelding has only had four starts, and following an eye-catching run when fourth on his penultimate start scored in good style over 6f at the track two weeks ago.

The three-year-old quickly made up ground after a slow start to track the leaders and after being produced a furlong from home stayed on powerfully to beat El Che by 2 1/4 lengths.
Little Lord Nelson won going away to score with plenty in hand, and the step up to 7f looks sure to suit.

The runner-up also had some fair form going into the contest, including when third on debut to the now 95-rated Spirit Of Xian, and that suggests that Little Lord Nelson’s opening mark of 72 could be on the lenient side.

The son of Mount Nelson also has the services in the saddle of Aaron Jones who rode him to victory last time out and takes an invaluable 7lb off his back with his claim, and another plus is that the stable is in terrific form at present.

With further improvement also looking assured, Little Lord Nelson looks the one they all have to beat.

In the 1m 4f handicap (4.45), Arashi looks weighted to go well after a return to form when runner-up at the track seven days ago.

The Derek Shaw trained nine-year-old kept on really well to go down by just 3/4 of a length to the in-form Topaling and the pair pulled 3 3/4 lengths clear of the third to give the form a solid look.

Arashi is due to go up 3lb for that effort, so it’s no surprise to see connections turn him out quickly off an unchanged mark of 62.

That is 5lb lower than when Arashi was last successful in a 2m contest at Kempton last June and gives him major claims from a handicapping perspective.

The only slight concern is that the son of Fantastic Light now drops back to 1m 4f having done all his recent winning over further, but Arashi has been successful twice over the trip earlier in his career and I can’t see it being a real problem.