Unexposed Alright Sunshine Can Land Musselburgh Feature

Musselburgh hosts a card on Friday that includes a staying feature event and in that race, Alright Sunshine is taken to follow up his recent Ripon win with the step up in trip looking sure to help. The horse has ran eight times so far, four times in national hunt bumpers and four times in flat races and the step up to 1m6f on the flat which he takes today looks to put him at his ideal distance. He doesn’t look like being a huge stayer on the flat, but this is the kind of distance he needs based on a couple of recent runs over shorter where he just wasn’t able to get home.

Of his eight runs, he has won five of them so there is certainly nothing wrong with his attitude, he knows where the winning post is and goes for it every time. He was beaten in a bumper and then his other two defeats came over inadequate distances on the flat. He won his flat debut over 1m4f but was then dropped to 1m3f and 1m1f for his next two runs. He ran well in both and was behind decent animals but you could tell he needed a little further to be seen at his best.

He returned to 1m4f at Ripon last time out, his first run in handicap company, and he won nicely there by three quarters of a length, again showing that slightly further would more than likely bring out even more. He’s been given a rise of 4lb in the weights for that win, but that is offset by the additional two furlongs he will face here, something I think he is going to relish.

The other big positive for this horse is the course he is running at. He clearly loves Musselburgh, he came here for his flat debut and two runs in bumpers and won all three, with 6 lengths, 8 lengths and 9 lengths being the winning distances of those races. This is a tougher assignment than all of those, but there is a lot to like about his profile and how much he likes the course.

He is unexposed on the flat, and could have more to give over this kind of trip, it would be no surprise if he turned into the kind of horse that could run in the top staying handicaps such as the Ebor and the Northumberland Plate next year, and that makes him more than good enough to defy the rise he has here and his current mark of 88.

The main contender in this race is Dragons Voice, a horse who I like and one that I think is capable of wining of his current mark. However, he is another that hasn’t been over this kind of trip, and I have reservations about it for him. His last run was over 1m4f and that was the first time he had tried that trip. His breeding says he should stay, but it doesn’t look like the kind of move that will bring him on further like it does with Alright Sunshine and that is why I am sticking with the former.

I think this is just the start with my selection, he will eventually have a rating in the 90s, possible into three figures and I see him as a future runner in the big staying handicaps when he has a little more experience under his belt. This trip will more than negate the 4lb rise he has to cope with after winning at Ripon last time and I strongly fancy Alright Sunshine to double up and record his fourth career win at what is fast becoming his favourite track, Musselburgh.