The in-form Al Najashi will have the services of Billy Loughnane when he bids to bring-up a five-timer in the BetMGM All-Weather 3 Year Old Championships Handicap at Newcastle on Good Friday.
Ollie Sangster’s colt started 2026 a maiden but has not looked back since opening his account off a lowly mark of 52 in January.
He is now rated 33lb higher as he tests his mettle against a cast of similar contemporaries, but his handler is hopeful there is still a little to come as he calls upon the services of one of the weighing room’s best.
Sangster said: “He’s looked progressive so far this year, but this will be a lot more testing waters.
“I’d have liked to have had a slightly higher draw, but we’re confident the horse is in good form and will hopefully run well.
“I knew he had something in the locker, but maybe not as much as there has been. I thought we were in good shape and would do well, but it’s always hard to foresee how much improvement will be there.
“It’s nice to be in the mix for a nice pot, but like I’ve said this is much deeper company this time.”
Live on Sky Sports Racing, the £150,000 contest has been won by the Andrew Balding and Oisin Murphy combination the last two years and they will this time rely on Silent Strike to prove deadly in search of a hat-trick.
Not outside the first two in three outings to date, the son of Mehmas sports the colours of Brighton & Hove Albion supremo Tony Bloom and his ally Ian McAleavy and is held in high regard by connections.
“He ran a bit green first time out at Lingfield and was caught a bit in a pocket coming round the bend with the horse in front of him quickening on,” said Bloom’s racing manager Sean Graham.
“He then won a five-runner race at Kempton when he was an odds-on chance and it was a weak enough race. We made the running on him and he won well and we thought he would go on and progress again.
“He ran three weeks later and was beaten by a filly trained by Karl Burke and at the time we were slightly disappointed, but they did pull a bit clear of the third.
“He’s a young, unexposed horse and is running off a mark of 90 so we hope he’s as good as the handicapper thinks he is. It’s a very competitive race on paper with lots of horses similar to him in there who could have plenty of improvement in them.
“We’re going there hopeful rather than confident, but that’s because it’s a three-year-old handicap in April and you have no idea what the ceiling will be for a lot of horses in here.”
Elsewhere in the line-up is Jamie Osborne’s Ten Carat Harry, who missed out on a six-timer in Listed company at Lingfield last time but could regain the winning thread returned to six furlongs and the handicap ranks, albeit with the burden of top-weight.
Osborne said: “This has been the plan since he won off 90 at Newcastle in January.
“I was worried January to April was going to be too long, so we gave him a run in the Spring Cup and he acquitted himself well.
“I think the stiff six at Newcastle is more to his liking, although the draw in 14 could have been kinder. He is ready to run his best race, it is just a question of whether there will be something better handicapped against him.”
