Speed Kings to steal show !

Fathsta ran quite well on Day 3 of the Doncaster meeting, he ran on well towards the finish under Spencer to finish 3rd and had there maybe have been some cut he may have won. Kanaf didnt run that well in comparison though and could not get to grips with the pacemaker and then when asked to make his effort he appeared to wander before fading and on that showing you wouldnt be too keen to keep him on your shortlist for these competitive handicaps.
On Saturday we have the Portland Handicap over 5 1/2 furlongs at Doncaster and with 22 runners going to post in doesnt get any easier. The fav is Zero Money based on his win last week at Haydock when he put up a time comparable with the Group 1 sprint, so another performance of that calibre would see him go close. This is a very competitive race though and he wont get things as easy in front and he is sure to be taken on by Verinco who also showed bags of dash last Sunday over 6f at York when he set the race up for Internationaldebut. He remains on the same mark of 93 and having only lost the lead in the last 50 yards this 5 1/2 trip could be right up his street and 25/1 is an excellent ew price for a horse that has been in the first 3 for 8 of his 10 races this season and Royston French takes over the steering.
Im not going to go into every horse in the race as it would take me a few hours to do so but Addictive Dream at 20/1 is another that has run some good races this season and is capable of winning a race of this type and it would be great boost for Walter Swinburn if he did. The stable have gone to the trouble of booking Frankie Dettori who has been riding as well as ever at here this week. He is still 6lb higher than for his win at Ripon but that was a convincing win and it gave you food for thought that he could go on and do something but to date he hasnt.
Dungannon, Waffle and Ancient Cross are others that appeal and look sure to be in the mix at the finish and really you know as well as I know that these big sprint handicaps are very tight and in reality any of the field could win on their day.
Over at Chester there are a couple of divisions of the 5f handicap at 2.00 and 4.45 and in the second of those bertoliver is well drawn in stall 3 for a horse that has won the Epsom Dash and he has run well here in the past winning two when he made all from stalls 7 and 2. Those wins were off 90 and 81 and his win in the Dash in 2010 was off 83, so the fact that he is now down to 77 and Ryan Clarke takes off a further 3lb gives you encouragement this may be his day. One who may give him a run for his money though is Lucky Dan who goes well off a fast pace and Paul Green his trainer never fails for lack of trying at this track.
Goodwood sees 10 runners for the Listed Sprint over 6f and Markab has his sights set lower for his first race out of Group company since 2009 and he is still a very capable performer despite his 8 years. Monsieur Chevalier and Son of the Cat are two that will give him plenty to do and the young pretender Desert Law is still open to plenty of improvement for his talented trainer.
Plenty to get excited about then overall and I will be having a couple of bets on Verinco ew and Bertoliver to win.
Good Luck !