6th-May-2023

This is obviously hugely competitive, but I think that Probe’s chance has been under-rated.

He was a progressive horse for Dermot Weld and Juddmonte, he won twice as a three-year-old, over seven furlongs and a mile, both times on soft ground, and his two runs for Jennie Candlish have been good.   

After winning a six-furlong handicap at Wolverhampton in March on his British debut, he stepped forward from that last time in defeat, at Newmarket’s Craven meeting, when he finished second to Orazio off a handicap rating of 90.  He was a little keener than ideal that day but, while he had no answer to Orazio’s finishing surge down the near side, he kept on well to take second place behind him.

A 1lb hike for that run was not harsh, it leaves him on a mark of 91, still 7lb lower than the mark on which he started off last season.  He is still relatively lightly raced, he goes well at the track, and any more rain would be a bonus.  Fundamentally though, he remains unexposed as a sprinter.

Strike Red and Apollo One were also on my shortlist, and I have an eye on Lethal Levi with a view to the future, but Probe is the bet today.

PROBE WON (ADV 17/2, SP 15/2)