Racing preview for Friday, January 15

Musharrif looks one of the more engaging names in action on the Wolverhampton Tapeta.
Horse racingHorse racing
Horse racing

Declan Carroll is a good trainer, and can be trusted to reignite the fire which flickers within this four-year-old, who was formerly in the care of Sir Michael Stoute.

The gelded son of Arcano actually won a race at Catterick for Stoute last summer, but he then struggled badly at Newbury and has since been transferred to East Yorkshire.

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Despite having been sent off at huge odds on his debut for Carroll, over this course and distance, Musharrif turned in quite a promising performance.

He could only finish fifth, but it was nice to see him stay on late in the day to go down by just two lengths in a much better race.

Carroll and Musharrif will be much wiser for that experience ahead of the Daily Price Boosts At Unibet Handicap, while it is reassuring to see Joe Fanning at the helm.

A first-time visor might eke out just enough for Pyroclastic to set the world alight in division one of the Ladbrokes Handicap at Lingfield.

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Jim Boyle’s four-year-old has only won once in 14 tries but he cannot be too far away if his short-neck third at this track in December is taken into account.

Pyroclastic was then sent back to Lingfield over this one-mile trip and was perhaps always chasing the game from a wide draw.

That said, he still did fairly well to finish third and is definitely worth another try over this sort of distance.

Assuming the head-gear has a galvanizing effect, the gelded son of Tagula had decent claims off a mark which is 4lb lower than his sole victory last April.

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Fixe Le Kap can bolster his claims for the JCB Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival when he goes for gold at Huntingdon.

Nicky Henderson’s qualities are there for all to see. He is by no means the finished product, of course, but it was tough not to have been impressed by his British debut at Newbury late last month when he won a solid juvenile hurdle - a race claimed 12 months ago by subsequent Triumph runner-up Top Notch - by a length.

* Selections:

Lingfield: 1.00 Pyroclastic, 1.30 Al’s Memory, 2.00 Majestic Myles, 2.30 Gorokai, 3.00 Castilo Del Diablo, 3.30 Megara, 4.00 Excellent Aim.

Wolverhampton: 4.15 John Coffey, 4.45 MUSHARRIF (NAP), 5.15 Favorite Girl, 5.45 Tower Power, 6.15 Believe It, 6.45 Dwight D.

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Huntingdon: 1.20 Pressurize, 1.50 Knocknanuss, 2.20 Global Domination, 2.50 Fixe Le Kap, 3.20 Three Faces West, 3.50 Buttercup.

Sedgefield: 1.10 Always Resolute, 1.40 Hassadin, 2.40 Sailors Warn, 3.40 Mcgregor’s Cottage.

Double: Musharrif and Fixe Le Kap.