Brian The Snail Handicapped to Build on Doncaster Win
Brian The Snail has found himself running in some of the top handicaps, where he has unfortunately just fell short of winning them. He dropped down in class last time out at Doncaster and that was the key to winning as he took that handicap nicely off a mark of 86. He is up 6lb for that to 92, but based on some of his form from last season, that rise may not be enough to stop him from winning again at Nottingham today.
The ground is a big of an unknown with this horse, he hasn’t ran too badly on soft and heavy when encountering them last season, although those races were far better than this which makes me hope he will be able to go on it, even if he is not the type of horse to relish it.
As for his handicap mark, he won off 95 last season and also ran well off 96, showing that despite the rise he is more than capable of winning again. When approaching a mark of 100 he struggled, but not only is that slightly too high for him, but it also forces him to run in the better quality handicaps.
His rating here allows him into 0-90 races, which this is, with him carrying a little more weight as he is rated 92. He showed his class and dominated things at Doncaster against inferior rivals. This is a small step up, but there is no doubt who is the best horse in this race and he will be looking to dominate them again.
There was a lot to like about the Doncaster win, the ground here is of course something to worry about but if he goes on it then Brian The Snail looks to have a solid chance of picking up another win here.