Black Minstrel (15:15 Lingfield) was making his belated handicap debut having finished well held in a trio of maidens in 2011 and 2012 when the subject of a sustained gamble over 10 furlongs here in April and while the €100,000 gelded son of Dylan Thomas still had plenty of ground to make up on the enterprisingly-ridden Salient in the final furlong or so, he managed to get up close home in the manner of a horse who had plenty in hand of the assessor. He's not been seen since and has been raised 8 lb to a mark of 63 in the interim, but there's likely more to come stepping up to this trip and he can follow-up at the expense of some similarly unexposed rivals.
It hasn't taken Sir Mark Prescott's yard long to get into top gear after its recent return to the fray and the fitting of first-time blinkers may see Sagesse (19:10 Brighton) resuming winning ways in an interesting small-field handicap. Victorious at Kempton in January, she had a pipe-opener over a slightly shorter trip at Yarmouth late last month and seems sure to improve with that third-placed effort behind her having been generously dropped 3 lb by the assessor since.
An hour later the south coast venue hosts another contest specifically for fillies and mares and while the presence of a couple of seasoned campaigners who have run well there in the past, namely Olney Lass and Welsh Inlet, is unlikely to make things easy, it may be worth chancing Goddess of Gloom (20:10 Brighton) in the hope that the switch to handicaps produces an improved performance. Her first two runs merely hinted at ability, but she showed more when fourth in a nine-runner Lingfield maiden last month and, with the Peter Chapple-Hyam stable amongst the winners and Shelley Birkett claiming a valuable 5 lb, the daughter of Firebreak is taken to get off the mark at the fourth time of asking.
Timeform UK SmartPlays
Back Black Minstrel @ 2.962/1 in the 15:15 Lingfield
Back Sagesse @ 2.8615/8 in the 19:10 Brighton
Back Goddess of Gloom @ 5.69/2 in the 20:10 Brighton
