believes
would have leading claims in the Balmoral Handicap on Champions Day at
as long as the ground is not too testing.
The four-year-old beat subsequent Cambridgeshire winner Liberty Lane last time out at Doncaster and has only been raised 4lb by the handicapper as a result.
Having finished fourth in the Royal Hunt Cup at the track earlier in the season, Botti is hoping the fact his charge is lightly-raced will prove decisive – providing the going is not attritional.
“He’s very well but we wouldn’t want extreme soft ground, good to soft is fine but if it gets really heavy he wouldn’t like it,” said Botti.
He's been lightly-raced this year, he's fresh and well and this has been the main target all season so let's hope we get lucky with the ground
— Marco Botti on Daysofourlives
“I don’t think going back to a stiff mile is going to be an issue, obviously he ran well in the Royal Hunt Cup, and the Balmoral has been the plan for while.
“I think the 4lb rise is fair from the handicapper. He only ever just does enough, he’s never flashy and all his wins have been narrow, hopefully he’s kept himself well handicapped.
“He’s been lightly-raced this year, he’s fresh and well and this has been the main target all season so let’s hope we get lucky with the ground.
“I think we’ll stick to the cheekpieces with him. He wore a visor in the Hunt Cup but we just thought with the very big field we might just have to sharpen him up a little more and that worked but he seems happy with the cheekpieces. He does need something to help him focus but I wouldn’t say he was ungenuine.”