WELL SET TO STEP AHEAD

Ben Morgan has ten warming prospects to follow in the coming weeks

- Ben Morgan

Passing Well I hope this lad turns out to be a progressive staying handicap chaser this season. I held high hopes for him last year but despite a couple of positive performances, he couldn't quite stay right and consequently ran a couple of poor races. However, due to those poor runs he remains on a low mark of 123. I think/hope he is a lot better than that as his pedigree suggests he really should be. A comeback run at Sandown over 2m 4f would have blown away the cobwebs and I would expect him to be a player nexttime out over 3m in softer conditions.

Westerninthepark - I warmed to this fellow over the weekend prior to his run at Cheltenham last time out and watched the final couple of furlongs of his impressive Stratford chase debut a good few times. A slow jump before they turned into the straight meant Sean Bowen had to get serious on him, or at least more serious than he would have wanted to be, but the response was very taking. The afterburners certainly kicked in and he looked better the further he went. A more positive ride at Cheltenham saw him finish second, in what looked a deep contest on paper before the race, jumping neatly and galloping all the way to the line. A step up to 3 miles is surely on the cards after that performance and if the handicapper doesn't react too harshly to his second place finish at Cheltenham then I think he could be well handicapped off a mark in the low 130's.

Guard Your Dreams - In that same race at Cheltenham, Guard Your Dreams ran an admirable race despite the burden of top weight.