Hot To Trot: Mulan can bring home the money

Flat trainer: Sir Michael Stoute

May is typically the month that the Sir Michael Stoute yard starts to find its stride, and that has certainly proved the case this time round – the trainer is currently operating at a healthy 31% strike rate, yielding a £32.29 level-stakes profit. The last seven days have been especially kind to Stoute, with eight winners from his last 12 runners, and there is seemingly plenty to look forward to for the rest of the season with the likes of Mustashry and Regal Reality, both of whom have won in Group company in recent days.

Regal Reality impresses in the @TeamMatchbook Brigadier Gerard Stakes under Ryan Moore, a 10th success in the race for Sir Michael Stoute @Sandownpark

Results ➡ https://t.co/glajGV55GR pic.twitter.com/wID1vOoGQY

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 23, 2019

In the more immediate future, Stoute will be hoping that Shareef Star can continue the yard’s winning sequence when lining up at Windsor on Monday. He looked a good prospect when opening his account at Newcastle last time, winning by a length and a half with a bit in hand, and a 4 lb higher mark is unlikely to prevent another big run, with further improvement on the cards after only five starts.

There is also plenty to recommend both of Stoute’s entries in the seven-furlong fillies’ handicap at Leicester on Tuesday. King’s Girl shaped encouragingly when second at Nottingham last time and should still have more to offer, while Mulan looks a big player if fully wound up after seven months off. A member of our Horses To Follow this season, she went through the motions in three two-year-old starts, but the foundations are there for one who should prove a different proposition now going up in trip in handicaps, with an opening mark of 72 appealing as more than fair.

Jumps trainer: Fergal O’Brien

Fergal O’Brien is another trainer who has his team in good form at present – he has saddled five winners and five seconds from his last 16 runners – with Global Tour the undoubted star of the show. Indeed, he made it three wins in the space of five days when successful at Southwell on Wednesday, and it would be no surprise if he proved capable of even better than he was able to show on that occasion, with the combination of the quick turnaround and an inefficient ride ensuring that he wasn’t seen to best effect.

A tough horse in rude health! Three wins in five days for Global Tour who scores at @Southwell_Races for @FOBRacing and @MaxKendrick 🥇🥇🥇 pic.twitter.com/0lqzAfsi7B

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 22, 2019

Cosmic King and Golden Taipan are others who won last-time-out for O’Brien, and that pair could both be back in action in the coming days, with the former engaged to run at Huntingdon on Monday, in a race over the same C&D as when making a successful chasing debut last month. He is already rated higher in that discipline than he was over hurdles, and further improvement cannot be ruled out, either, with a 2 lb higher mark still potentially very lenient.

He could be joined at Huntingdon by Chilli Romance, who has been given a break since winning from 8 lb lower at Leicester in December, while Warwick on Wednesday is the destination for Golden Taipan’s follow-up bid. Admittedly, this may prove a tough ask, carrying a penalty in what looks a hot novices’ hurdle for the time of year, but it was hard to fault his winning debut over C&D last time, and he looks a solid type who should continue to give a good account.

Under the radar: Michael Bell

Michael Bell was dealt a blow earlier in the year when he was forced to retire his popular stayer Big Orange due to injury, but there has been plenty to cheer him up in recent weeks, with the yard enjoying a terrific run of form (eight winners from last 16 runners). The two-year-olds have looked particularly promising, with four winners from eight in that department, and Applecross could well be one to follow, having become the latest to add her name to that list in ready fashion at Bath on Friday.

The next of the yard’s juveniles to make an appearance could be Modern British Art, who holds a choice of engagements at Leicester on Tuesday. He is certainly bred to be a precocious sort – his dam and several of his siblings won over five furlongs at two – and it would be no surprise to see him put up a good show first-time-out, with options over both five and six furlongs.

Others to note in the coming days include Thomas Cubitt and Robert Fitzroy. The former also holds multiple entries (Redcar on Tuesday and Beverley on Wednesday), and he will be of interest wherever if goes if building on the promise of his second at Redcar earlier this month; that represented a career-best effort on his handicap debut and he looks well up to winning something similar. Robert Fitzroy, on the other hand, could be seen next at Doncaster on Friday. He is another who is still seeking his first win, but there was plenty of encouragement in his fourth at Wolverhampton last time, needing a stiffer test of stamina, and the handicapper has taken a chance by dropping him 2 lb on the back of that.