The 18:20 - 100% Profit Boost At 32redsport.com Handicap at Kempton tonight will be a Class 6 affair over 7 furlongs, with our selection dropping down in grade to take his place in the lineup.
Smugglers Creek, the winner of a maiden for Michael Halford in Ireland before joining Ian Jardine, put in the best of his three runs to date on these shores last time.
Running in a Class 5 event, he broke smartly to lead early under Paul Mulrennan, only relinquishing his lead to two out before finishing back in third.
He did that off a mark of 69 and has been rather generously dropped 2lbs by the handicapper.
When the 5lb claim of his rider Jamie Gormley tonight is factored in, he’s effectively a full 7lb lower that he was for that run. That leaves him on a very attractive mark indeed.
Ordinarily, the replacing of Mulrennan with an apprentice would be a cause for concern, but young Gormley is 3-7 in the last 14 days and his form negates any worries on that front.
The one negative for Smugglers Creek is that he’s drawn out in 11, which is less than ideal for his front-running style. The race shouldn’t go off at a blazing pace, though, and we’re hopeful that his jockey can get him out of the stalls and across to a prominent position without too much hassle.
All told, Smugglers Creek looks to have a fair chance of capitalising on the handicapper's kindness tonight. We’ll be wading in with a one-point win bet in the hopes of getting off to a good start to the week.