Boosted Weekend Ante-Post Double - 22/02/22

The first horse in our Ante-Post double ahead of this weekend is the John Gosden trained Group One winner Lord North who looks the pick of the field in the Group Three Winter Derby Stakes at Lingfield.

One of the most progressive horses on the the flat between 2019/2020 the gelding went from winning handicaps to landing Group One events.

Landing the Cambridgeshire in September 2019 and then finishing a tight second in the Balmoral Handicap after that, in 2020 he became a Group One winning horse.

Winning the Group Three Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Haydock on his first run in 2020, he then went into the Group One Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot and took the race with ease.

Looking to round off the season in style he was below par in the Juddmonte International and British Champion Stakes, with the soft ground going against him in the latter.

He was seen one final time in 2020 when fourth of 10 in a strong renewal of the Breeders Cup Turf, which was much more like him.

Given a break he was last seen in March 2021 at Meydan over nine furlongs when landing the Group One Dubai Turf.

Going well fresh is something he is known for winning on all four of his seasonal debuts after a break.

Another thing to not with this race it sees him drop markedly back in grade and Gosden has landed all three of the last renewals of this race with three different horses.

Loads going for him.

The second part of the double sees us switch over to the jumps at Kempton with the Grade Two Adonis Hurdle being one of the feature events of the weekend.

The horse we are siding with in the two mile event is the Milton Harris trained Knight Salute who is looking to extend his unbeaten record to five races.

Making his hurdles debut this term having been a very average horse on the flat, the gelding went into a Juvenile Hurdle at Sedgefield and bolted up by nine lengths.

In a better race at Kempton next time out he won nicely again from Impulsive One, who he takes on again in this event.

Seeking a hat-trick he headed to Cheltenham in November and landed the Grade Two Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle in dominant fashion.

Not knowing where the ceiling is with this horse, Harris sent him to Doncaster last time out in the Grade Two Summit Juvenile Hurdle and taking on the smart Porticello, who has since franked the form in a big way, he went on to beat him by close to a length.

That form looks very difficult to beat at the weekend and unless Paul Nicholls' newcomer is extra special, Knight Salute looks the one to be on.