Great Charm declared for Leicester

Great Charm is declared for the 8.45 at Leicester  on Saturday 16th of June. The race is a seven furlong handicap and Mickael Barzalona will be in the saddle, his only ride at the meeting. It is a stronger race than on his seasonal debut for us at Chepstow, but he has certainly come on for that run and worked nicely last Saturday. It looks like the ground is going to be heavy and although we are aiming to try him over a mile at some point much of his best form is actually over six furlongs to this point in his career, so this should certainly give us an idea if pursuing a step up in trip is worthwhile. There is some very credible opposition, Illustrious Prince has conditions to suit and has run very well in defeat in strong races this year. Fieldgunner Kirkup won well in similar conditions last time out and is a contender. No Poppy should also put up a better performance now returned to soft ground conditions after failing to make it a hat trick last time out. Mingun Bell is another who has the form to put up a big show although, heavy conditions may not be entirely suitable. Convention would say that there is a draw bias at Leicester over seven furlongs although the statistics don’t really show this.