The Lost Sock: what can we expect from his second start?

Racing TV and RaceShare's syndicate horse The Lost Sock has been declared to run in Thirsk's Karen Batty Spirit EBF Maiden Stakes over 5f on Saturday.

The son of Cotai Glory put up an encouraging display on debut, finishing third at Nottingham over 6f on ground softer than ideal. As trainer Roger Varian mentioned in his latest update, he is keen to step him back down to the minimum trip for this next start.

Saturday's race, which is the opening contest on the card and due off at 1.38, has attracted a field of eight. Similarly to at Nottingham, all of The Lost Sock's opponents have seen a racecourse, with the most experienced amongst them being Boston Dan, who has ran three times, finishing fourth, third and second for Richard Fahey.

Other contenders in the race include the Kevin Ryan-trained Rikki Tiki Tavi, who returned the runner-up on debut at York before then managing fourth at Ayr. Both of those races were over 6f, so he will also be tackling 5f for the first time at Thirsk.

The form of his debut second has received a couple of form boosts since, with the winner Egoli since scoring again and earning a rating of 93, whilst the third-placed finisher Stellar Sunrise won at the Qatar Goodwood Festival on Wednesday for Andrew Balding. 

Despite there being plenty of horses who stayed further in his pedigree, the step down to 5f looks a sensible choice for The Lost Sock's next race, having showed plenty of speed on his first run at Nottingham, only to fade out of contention in the closing stages.

Timeform's comments agree with this theory, saying that he "shaped as if better for the run, making a good effort before his run petered out; in touch, took strong hold, challenged 2f out, weakened final 100 yds; will improve."

Silvestre de Sousa has been declared to ride for the first time and has a particularly good record at Thirsk, with a strike rate of 29 per cent over the past five seasons and a profit/loss of +£16.73. He does not have a better strike rate over the past half decade at any other course in Britain.

If you are unable to attend Thirsk in person, then tune into Racing TV to watch the race live, plus all the analysis from our top team.