Timeform highlight their best bets at Cheltenham and Newmarket on Thursday in the form of a ratings banker, a big improver and a Flag.
The Ratings Banker
Mullenbeg - 17:00 Cheltenham
Mullenbeg disappointed when only fourth, beaten nearly 30 lengths, in a listed race at Sandown last month, but that event, staged on soft ground, provided a sterner test of stamina than ideal. Mullenbeg is instead better judged on the form she showed when winning a Listed race here in January on ground described as good to soft by Timeform.
That emphatic five-and-a-half-length success earned Mullenbeg a Timeform rating which, even taking her penalty into account, places her at least 10 lb clear of the field on weight-adjusted ratings.
The going won't be as stamina-sapping as it was at Sandown and Mullenbeg can put her speed to good use.
The Big Improver
Audience - 14:25 Newmarket
Audience is bred to be useful - he's out of a Listed winner and is a half-brother to three winners - and he looked a bright prospect when making a successful start to his career over this course and distance last season.
Audience started out in a novice that, by this track's standards, tends to be an ordinary affair, but, even with that in mind, he created a striking impression as he travelled strongly and quickened three and three-quarter lengths clear.
The bare form of that novice success leaves Audience a bit to find on the figures with Anthem National, who was third in listed company last time, and Eldrickjones, who was highly tried as a juvenile, but he remains open to plenty of improvement after only one start.
The Timeform Flag
Precious Eleanor - 14:05 Cheltenham
Horses For Courses, Hot Trainer, Top-Rated
Precious Eleanor was a fair hurdler - she managed to win a mares' handicap at Ludlow last season - but she has quickly developed into a much better chaser this term.
Precious Eleanor had to settle for second on her first five starts over fences but there's nothing wrong with her attitude and she gained a deserved success in a mares' novice chase at Warwick last month. Her three rivals failed to give their running but Precious Eleanor still deserves credit for the style of success, impressing with how boldly she jumped and enthusiastically she travelled before pulling 20 lengths clear.
The assessor has understandably bumped Precious Eleanor up in the weights and she is now 5 lb higher than when last contesting a handicap, but she looks worth her new mark.
She has also demonstrated her effectiveness around Cheltenham, finishing runner-up over course and distance in December, while Henry Daly's runners continue to perform creditably and plenty have been knocking on the door, for all it's been a month since his last success.
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