I’ll Be Back to keep winning trend going at Hamilton

I’ll Be Back is expected to maintain his unbeaten record for trainer Karl Burke in the Wellman Cars Private Hire Almada Mile Handicap at Hamilton on Thursday.

The Lope De Vega colt was odds-on for his racecourse debut at Doncaster in November and ploughed through the testing conditions to win comfortably.

He encountered a quicker surface on his reappearance at Leicester in April, but again got the job done without being fully extended and the form could hardly have worked out better, with the second, third and fourth all winning at least once since then.

Burke raised the Group Three Jersey Stakes as a possible target for I’ll Be Back the week before Royal Ascot, but he ultimately sidestepped that and he has also missed an engagement at Newmarket since due to unsuitable ground.

He instead makes his handicap debut in Scotland and if his trainer feels he is a potential Group horse in the making, he should be hard to beat off a mark of 92 against some significantly more exposed rivals.

Call Nicki looks the one to be with in the opening British Stallions Studs EBF Nursery Handicap.

The Soldier’s Call filly performed creditably in defeat on each of her first four starts, albeit she was beaten at odds-on in the last of those races at Carlisle.

However, the winner of that race, Charlie Johnston’s Redline, has subsequently followed up at Ayr, so perhaps Call Nicki’s run was not as disappointing as it first appeared.

She has since opened her account over this course and distance and a revised mark of 73 looks more than fair ahead of bid to follow up.

Dappled Light has a good opportunity to get back to winning ways at Chepstow.

The six-year-old won here last season for Adrian Wintle and is enjoying another good campaign, with back-to-back wins at Bath followed by a narrow defeat at Chepstow on his latest outing just over a fortnight ago.

There was not a lot wrong with that performance over 1500m and returning to 1600m for the Trade Centre Wales Handicap, another bid looks assured.

It will be interesting to see whether the application of cheekpieces can help Simba’s Pride find the necessary improvement to land the Sell Your Business With Anderson Barrowcliff Handicap at Thirsk.

The Dream Ahead gelding has not really run a bad race in nine starts for Michael Dods, with wins at Hamilton and Ripon supplemented by several sound efforts whilst being beaten.

He was a half-length third last time out at this venue and if the headgear has the desired effect, he might just progress enough to go a couple of places better off the same mark of 68.

Atmosphere has proved a little frustrating to follow so far this year, but he might reward those who keep the faith in the Vail Williams Handicap at Epsom.

The four-year-old has been placed in four successive races on the all-weather and has only been beaten a length the last twice at Kempton.

He returns to quick ground on turf for the first time in 12 months and ought to go close under Oisin Murphy, who is clearly a positive jockey booking.

Worcester punters should put their faith in recent course winner Knightsbridge, who looks well placed to complete a hat-trick in the CopyBet Pay First Past The Post Handicap Chase. – Press Association

TAB is betting on 5 UK meetings on Thursday. Here are the tips.

HAMILTON: Race 1: 14.40 Call Nicki, Race 2: 15.15 Great Profit, Race 3: 15.50 Test Run, Race 4: 16.25 I’LL BE BACK (NAP), Race 5: 17.00 Break The Bank, Race 6: 17.35 Lady Bouquet, Race 7: 18.10 Bruce Banner.

THIRSK: Race 1: 14.53 Princess Honey Bee, Race 2: 15.28 Sandy Craic, Race 3: 16.03 Simba’s Pride, Race 4: 16.38 Langholm, Race 5: 17.10 Forever Twenty, Race 6: 17.45 Military Leader.

CHEPSTOW: Race 1: 15.05 Lyrics Of Life, Race 2: 15.40 Dragon God, Race 3: 16.15 Percy Shaw, Race 4: 16.50 Dappled Light, Race 5: 17.25 Autumn Angel, Race 6: 18.00 Some Nightmare, Race 7: 18.30 Electric Bass.

EPSOM: Race 1: 18.45 Palace Legacy, Race 2: 19.20 Eutropia, Race 3: 19.55 Hello Cotai, Race 4: 20.30 I’d Go Maniac, Race 5: 21.05 Atmosphere, Race 6: 21.40 Piazza.

WORCESTER: Race 1: 18.52 Atreides, Race 2: 19.27 Knightsbridge, Race 3: 20.02 Mirabello, Race 4: 20.37 Square d’Alboni, Race 5: 21.12 Final Entry, Race 6: 21.47 Shesonnet.

ALL TO COME: Call Nicki and I’ll Be Back (Hamilton, Race 1 and 4).