Tony McFadden of Timeform provides an overview of the key things to note on the racing front on Monday.
Three points of interest
Calla Lagoon the clear one to beat in Silver Tankard
Ralph Beckett has fared well on his trips to Pontefract in recent seasons, winning with four of his 11 runners this year and operating at a near-27% strike rate at the course since the start of 2019.
Beckett has a couple of runners at Pontefract on Monday, including Calla Lagoon who is clear on Timeform ratings in the feature listed Tankard Stakes (15:15).
Four of the five runners, including Calla Lagoon, have the Timeform 'p' to highlight they are likely to improve. But Calla Lagoon has a good cushion based on the form of his Ascot maiden win and is 14 lb clear at the head of Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings.
Calla Lagoon, who clearly benefited from the experience he gained on debut, stayed on well to win by a neck from Seaplane with Too Soon a length and a half back in third. The placed pair have both won comfortably since, as has the fifth, Isambard Brunel, which pays a compliment to Calla Lagoon.
Kaizen an interesting newcomer at Southwell
Kaizen catches the eye on his debut in the seven-furlong novice at Southwell (18:15) as he's a half-brother to last year's Fillies' Mile winner Ylang Ylang, while his unnamed half-sister was one of the top lots at Book 1 of the Tattersalls Yearling Sale recently.
Kaizen was an expensive purchase as a yearling at 425,000 guineas, though the daughters of Shambolic - a half-sister to Hong Kong star Viva Pataca - have fetched a lot more.
Ylang Ylang, by Frankel, cost 1.5 million guineas, while the daughter of Siyouni sold this month fetched a remarkable 3.7 million guineas, making her the third-most expensive purchase at that blockbuster sale.
Kaizen, a son of Kingman, is in training with the Gosdens and will have the assistance of champion jockey Oisin Murphy on debut.
Light As Air a big improver for O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien has dominated in this extended mile maiden at Gowran Park (14:30), winning six of the last nine renewals, and he has a couple of contender this year, most notably Light As Air whose encouraging debut at Navan recently earned him the Timeform Large P symbol to identify him as capable of much better.
Light As Air was in need of the experience at Navan but he shaped well in third, running on in promising fashion, leaving the impression that he should be much sharper for the outing.
He's certainly bred to do much better as he's a half-brother to St Leger winner Continuous, while his dam, Fluff, is a sister to Maybe, a Group 1-winning two-year-old who is the dam of Saxon Warrior.
Tip of the Day
Spirit of Acklam - 16:45 Pontefract
Flag: Horse In Focus
Spirit of Acklam had made such a promising start to his career that he was sent off a single-figure price for the London Gold Cup, one of the strongest three-year-old middle-distance handicaps of the season, on his handicap debut at Newbury in May.
Spirit of Acklam failed to fire there, coming home last of 13, but he shaped with plenty of encouragement on his belated return to action at Ayr three weeks ago, finishing a close-up third despite understandably looking a touch rusty.
He is entitled to be sharper with that run under his belt, he's proven on testing ground and, with very few miles on the clock, he looks capable of raising his game.
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