Pasture seeks Perfect Seven at Lingfield

With both Newbury and Warwick facing early morning inspections, the all-weather racing at Lingfield may find itself in the spotlight again on Saturday. The feature race sees the remarkable Perfect Pasture attempting to win his seventh race in a row for veteran trainer Mick Easterby at 3.45.

The four-year-old began his winning sequence off a mark of 43 at Hamilton in August but will race off 100 this weekend. The application of a visor seems to be the only explanation for his incredible improvement in form.

Last time out he readily held the persistent challenge of Rivellino by two lengths and now meets that rival on 7lbs worse terms. The runner-up is likely to be restrained in the early stages here with connections believing a change of tactics may help them to gain their revenge.

Iptisam is an interesting runner for Jason Tate with only eight previous career starts. He ran his best race to date when second at Wolverhampton and has scope for improvement.

The same can certainly be said of Andrew Balding’s Absolutely So, comprehensively beaten by Discussiontofollow at Kempton last month. The winner was not extended that day but Absolutely So beat the rest of the field quite convincingly.

George Margarson has his stable in good form and is hoping for a bold show from Woolfall Sovereign. His recent third at Southwell came after a 10-week absence and he was badly drawn that day.

Perfect Pasture shares top weight with Jeremy Noseda’s Nocturn who was a good handicapper on the turf last season. He finished second over course and distance last season before going on to win at Windsor and Newmarket in the summer.

Frankie Dettori is an interesting booking for the five-year-old who lost his way a little at the back-end of the season. Richard Fahey’s Alben Star is up 4lbs for a narrow victory at Wolverhampton last week while Jamie Spencer rides the consistent Diamond Charlie.