Rachel Candelora: Enchantment looks Magic at Lingfield

This past Easter Weekend was a good one if you were an All-Weather fan as Friday saw the All-Weather Championships rock at Lingfield and Saturday was all about Kempton as the weather did not keep the Family Fun Day crowd away. Both days were a testament to fans of the sport as, especially on Friday, they braved torrential rain and still came out to support two really good days of racing.

One of the highlights for me on All-Weather Finals day was the French domination as they won three of the six championship events - with more international winners this series is only going to attract more overseas interest. On the home front, I thought the performance of Corinthia Knight was a special one and I cannot wait to see where Archie Watson takes him next.

The star performance of the day however came from Spare Parts who in the end of a battling All-Weather season tied with Captain Lars as the winning-most All-Weather horse. Spare Parts, as we know, was forced to run in the Mile Championship due to the conditions of the apprentices’ race, and he was awesome! Yes he ran ninth but he was beaten only four and three-quarter lengths, and he was right upsides previous winner Captain Joy as they pulled into the stretch - remember the pace that he helped force produced a track record time.

For the legion of fans he has garnered over the season (there were a lot of people around the paddock to see him) Phil McEntee has said that he is not done and we will see more of him in the future.

Lord Oberon is one of two winners in this field and the only previous winner at Southwell. His victory came on debut in January when backed down to 2-1 for Karl Burke, where he just got home over seven furlongs. Next time out he ran three lengths fourth in a seven-furlong Kempton novice event won by Tribal Warrior who has claims to go in again tonight at Kempton. Returning to Southwell will definitely suit and trying six furlongs for the first time shouldn’t hinder his prospects as he hails from a sprinting family and is by Mayson.

This four-year-old is looking for the hat-trick of course-and-distance wins and scored quite comfortably last time out. Monks Stand is carrying a weight penalty today but is running in a lower grade than his win at the end of last month. Silvestre De Sousa gets back aboard him after riding him for the first time to win last month. He is facing a small field today but four of the six runners have led in the past and with a good draw in stall two, he should get a nice trip through the race.

A likeable filly who won her final novice event over six furlongs two starts ago at Chelmsford, before pulling all of her chances away last time out under top weight in a similar handicap to this. Today she is dropping back down to her winning distance of six furlongs and returning to Lingfield where her one previous run was a good second.

The way that this race is likely to set up will suit her as she does need to get some cover early and drawn in the outside post Shane Kelly should be able to drop her in behind Kalagia and Haylah, who are making their seasonal reappearances and have led in the past. Trained by Richard Hughes, whose team is coming into form nicely now, Kath’s Lustre has a good chance to pick up another success.

This daughter of Camelot has been runner-up in two of her four career starts, the most notable being when six lengths second, on debut in her only All-Weather run to date at Kempton, to Billesdon Brook, who went on to win the Group Three Prestige Stakes at Goodwood. On her handicap debut she was thrown into the valuable Jersey Lily Fillies’ Nursery at Newmarket and finished ninth, although she did not appear to handle The Dip that day.

Trainer Eve Johnson Houghton (who had a Lingfield winner yesterday) has found a nice fillies’ handicap here, back on the All-Weather, for Last Enchantment to return in and if she is fit she has a great chance on the back of her novice form. The added furlong today should also suit as she is by Camelot and from a family containing Graded and Group winners around the world at between a mile and a mile and a half.