Nick Luck’s Blog: Dragon should be ready to Fire

Doncaster, Thursday

BELLARCHI can take a red hot nursery that opens up ITV coverage of Doncaster’s St Leger Festival (1.50pm) at 11/2. She has mainly thrived on racing this season, but really took her game to a new level with cut in the ground at Hamilton last time, and the way she strode up the rising ground suggested that the extra half furlong should really suit. Grant Tuer has an uncanny ability to keep squeezing improvement out of his horses, and this one can step forward again.

DRAGON LEADER can follow up his York success in the sales race, albeit on significantly softer ground (2.25pm) at 9/4. His performance stacked up extremely well against the pattern races at the meeting, and I’m not convinced Johannes Brahms is quite superior enough to concede him a fair chunk of weight. There are plenty of no-hopers here, but Komat should run well with proven stakes form on the surface.

SEE THE FIRE can pass the test in the May Hill (3.00pm) at 7/2. Andrew Balding likes to debut a good one on the July course, and I was most impressed with her opening effort, powering on smartly despite obvious signs of inexperience. The form has worked out quite tidily, the ground should be no bother on pedigree, and she’s out of a Group One winner.

CHING SHIH is well overdue a try over a proper trip, and looks a perfectly feasible candidate at 6/1 for the Park Hill (3.35pm). Her family is full of stamina and she is likely to get a fair pace to run at here. Her performance in the Geoffrey Freer was all the more creditable given she had nothing to really take her into the race from way off the speed.