Chris Dixon's Notes And Angles: Fresh Hope one to note for Fellowes

Most eyes were quite rightly focussed on the action at Royal Ascot last week and while I’ve put forward a couple of handicappers from the Royal Meeting as suggested additions to your racingtv.com tracker, I’ve also found a couple to add in from elsewhere last week that will hopefully prove profitable to follow in the short term.

Before I get onto those though, there is a recent tracker addition lining up at Newcastle tonight that I think is worth backing and that’s Geoff Harker’s Key Look.

An eyecatcher at Catterick last time when travelling well but not getting a clear passage through, she looked back in good form and may have been found the right race to build on that promise. Drawn in the middle and likely to race away from what should be the strong pace that suits her, she looks attractively handicapped at present.

With her stable among the winners at the track yesterday and her latest form subsequently boosted by the third horse Swinging Eddie another couple of positives to throw into the mix she’s definitely one I’ll be having a few quid on here.

Melody King has taken a few runs to come to hand this year but he looked like a horse who wasn’t far away from hitting top form when producing his best effort of the season to take fourth at Nottingham.

That improved effort was despite not being as well placed as those that beat him in a race where the pace held up well but another 1lb drop in the weights has followed and he’s now a well handicapped horse that can hopefully take his revival up a notch next time, which may be at Musselburgh next week.

Chris Wall’s horses often progress plenty when switched to handicap company and that’s exactly what I expect to happen with Commander Hector who shaped nicely on his final run to qualify for a mark when seventh at Windsor last week.

Held up well back from a steady pace, he passed a few late on without being given a hard time and is better than he’s shown to this point. With that in mind an opening mark of 67 looks fair and given he’s related to 6 winners who all rated higher than that I reckon there’s every chance he’ll progress quite a bit.

The set-up of a well-run race on the straight track at Ascot was in many ways ideal for Fresh Hope but she was unfortunate to be drawn away from where the action unfolded when sixth in the Sandringham last week and has more to offer.

Rated just 82, she looks well ahead of her mark and would’ve proved it with a better draw here so she’ll be of real interest next time in what will likely be a less competitive race than this. A strong pace on a straight track may prove her optimum but I’ll be keeping a close eye on her wherever she turns up next.

The Ascot straight track is a hard place to make all at, especially in a competitive big field handicap, and I thought Jimi Hendrix ran a fine race when trying to do just that in the Britannia last week.

Soon into the lead after a good start, he travelled well and briefly looked to have plenty of them in trouble as he kicked on over 2f from home only to be caught by a couple of well-handicapped horses coming from a good way back. This run suggests he has a good bit in hand of his mark and he shouldn’t be long in proving it with less competitive races open to him.

When I arrived at Newmarket for Racing TV on Saturday, I had one strong fancy on the card and that was Saint Riquier who despite being 9/4 favourite looked well overpriced. It seemed plenty agreed as he was smashed off the board to go off a shade of odds on to step forward from what had been an encouraging run at Chester the time before.

The Chester run, and his form over hurdles, suggested he was sure to improve for an increased test of stamina which he was getting over a longer trip. The problem was the race didn’t turn into enough of a test for him after a steady early pace and he was badly outpaced before running on late. This run suggests he’s still in good form and he can make amends as soon as his stamina is tested more thoroughly.