Prydwen is likely to target the Northumberland Plate after he continued his lucrative all-weather campaign in the Liz And Izzy’s Hoap Podcast Handicap at Southwell.
A 3-1 joint favourite for the £75,000 feature on this Premier Raceday fixture in Nottinghamshire, the six-year-old was an impressive winner on All-Weather Championships Finals Day at Newcastle a month ago.
With a top weight of 9st 12lb, Prydwen spent most of the two-mile race in the slipstream of the leader Pledgeofallegiance and was the only horse still on the bridle rounding the last bend.
As Callum Shepherd straightened up for home, he angled his mount towards the rail of the stands, and George Scott's charge was well on top, passing the post a length and a half clear of Onesmoothoperator.
Scott said: “I know it sounds crazy at the age of six, but we seem to have unlocked the way to ride him by default at Newcastle. He’s quite a nervous horse and he’s run his worst races when he’s been claustrophobic, so the plan today was always to get up on the pace and sit on the outside. I thought Callum gave him a really sensible ride and it was a very good performance from the horse, carrying that weight and giving 13lb to the second. I think he’ll probably go for the Northumberland Plate. He’ll probably have plenty of weight, but he can clearly give weight away on that surface and the Plate is over a course and distance he’s won over, so it’s an absolute no-brainer. If he was to win the Northumberland Plate, we might look at the Goodwood Cup, but we’ll see.”
Sardinian Warrior, a Derby participant, won the Boost Your Football Acca At Planet Sport Bet Novice Stakes with decisive ease.
The son of Saxon Warrior, who finished a promising second in his Kempton debut in December, was the 7-4 favourite when he made his reappearance and easily won by four and a half lengths behind skilful driving from Kieran Shoemark. T'Challa, a recent arrival, finished in second place.
“He kind of did everything I expected of him,” Shoemark told Sky Sports Racing. “We ended up in front a long way from home and I think there was a combination of him being green, which he’s entitled to be, and possibly getting tired as well – he’s having a nice blow. We always knew he was going to come on for today, so it was very encouraging.”