Spring is Sprung takes first shot at £100,000 Sky Bet Sunday Series bonus

It’s not what you’d call a penalty kick, but Paul Midgley is eager to take his shot at Sky Bet’s £100,000 Sunday Series bonus with Spring Is Sprung at Hamilton this weekend.

Back-to-back wins at Newmarket and Chelmsford over the last month have seen the resurgent six-year-old scoot clear at the top of the leaderboard with two victories so far.

Izzari (Iain Jardine) and Only Spoofing (Kevin Coleman) - both successful on the Series-opening card at Musselburgh in April - are the only other horses with a win to their name to hold an entry for Hamilton.

That gives Midgley and owner Paul Blackburn a free hit at trying to emulate Letsbefrank’s achievement from 12 months ago, when that Jim Goldie-trained stayer became the first horse to scoop the bumper bonus for racking up three wins since the Series was expanded to its current format in 2022.

Midgley said: “I wouldn’t say we’re in pole position, because there’s great prize money on offer and that will make for a competitive race.

“But we’re excited to be in the position where we’re able to have first crack at it.”

Hamilton’s fixture on Sunday, which boasts £215,550 in prize money across seven races, is the fourth of the scheduled six in this year’s Series.

It then pauses for eight weeks before returning at Haydock on August 10 and the York finale on September 7 - and Midgley would love to seal the deal at the first opportunity.

He added: “It’s a long time to wait until August if we don’t do it on Sunday.

“There are five-furlong races for him at Haydock and at York, but if we’re having to wait for those, then what do we do with him between now and then?

“We could run him through the summer, but then you risk ruining his mark or possibly handicapping yourself out of a race altogether.

“That’s a headache we could do without, so hopefully we can get it all tied up this weekend.”

Hamilton is renowned for its stiff uphill finish, but what’s often overlooked is its pronounced downhill run from the stalls - making it a unique test of balance for sprinters.

Spring Is Sprung has never run at Hamilton before and North Yorkshire-based Midgley knows it’s far from a gimme that the six-year-old will handle the South Lanarkshire track’s undulations.

He said: “Spring Is Sprung is a well-balanced horse so I can’t see it fazing him - although that’s probably famous last words!”

“If you look at Newmarket, they have to run downhill into The Dip first before there’s an incline to the line.”

Midgley will keep a close eye on the weather and hope Hamilton misses some of the thundery showers that are forecast in the lead-up. His primary concern, however, is making sure his bonus hunter doesn’t shoot himself in the foot between now and D-Day.

Midgley added: “Spring Is Sprung can be a bit accident prone and is inclined just to knock his joints.

“He had a wee leg stretch over a couple of furlongs on Wednesday, but after that all I’ll do is keep him walking between now and Sunday. That’s what I did for two days before Chelmsford and it worked. He’s in great form. I just hope the rain stays away.”