Daryl Carter's Tips: Back Hughes' Gladiator to win Kempton battle

• Two Wednesday bets at shorter prices

• I Maximus is the NAP at Kempton

• Raheena can improve again

14:53 Southwell - Back Raheena @ 5/23.50 1pt

Raheena - 5/23.50 on the Betfair Sportsbook - can make a mark now switched to handicaps following an excellent Kempton victory 21 days ago. That victory followed a good front-running effort at Windsor in a race that clocked a good time and saw her bump into above-average rivals.

The winner is rated in the 90s, and the third has since run very well in a handicap from a rating of 87 (now rated 91). Her debut form at Newmarket is also powerful behind the 114-rated Sea The Fire. However, the angle into her improvement comes with the switch to the AW.

She was a different model at Kempton 21 days ago with a romping victory over a useful William Haggas rival. Still, there is more to come if her pedigree is anything to go by.

Raheena has seen all four of her siblings improve for the switch to this surface, and the Crisford yard has success with two of those in Tajawal and Sooghan. The handicapper possibly has her correct for now, but I expect a big step forward again on just her second start on the AW, and the move back up to 1m is a positive.

Placeholder rates the biggest threat.

19:00 Kempton - Back I Maximus @ 11/82.38 2pt (NAP)

I Maximus - 11/82.38 on the Betfair Sportsbook - caught the eye at Newbury on debut in a useful race, and it was notable, despite conceding experience to most of the field, that he was very strong in the market. He ran as though he would know much more next time, but he was pitched in an unpromising position and denied a clear run at a crucial time. He may have won had he got out in time, but it was a performance that screamed potential improver.

The race has worked out well. The winner is now rated 96, having run well above market expectations in the Group 2 Richmond Stakes next time at the Goodwood Festival and the fourth similarly in that same race, following a Novice victory before shaping well at York in the Group 3 Acomb Stakes. The fifth has shown a good level of form since then, and the sixth forced a dead-heat in a maiden at the Goodwood Festival.

He arrives with strong form under his belt, and he will almost certainly improve for the outing, so from a good draw in stall four under Oisin Murphy and being bred to relish the AW, he can get the better of Macedonian.

I expect him to go off a shade of odds-on, so any 11/102.11 or bigger is acceptable.

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