Intervention looks to regain the winning thread as he takes on talented sprinters One Night Stand, Silky Wilkie and Kinta in the BetUK. Home Of The Acca-Fenwa Handicap at Wolverhampton this evening – first off at 19h30.
Wolverhampton Racecourse (Pic – Wolverhampton)
Having notched four consecutive victories at the backend of last year, Intervention has finished second on all three starts so far in 2024, most recently going down by a short-head at Wolverhampton on January 26.
The seven-year-old has posted 10 all-weather wins in total but is seeking a first success over five furlongs, with a fourth at Southwell in 2022 his best effort in four handicap appearances over the minimum trip for Mick Appleby.
One Night Stand lines up on the back of an all-the-way success in a £50,000 handicap at Lingfield Park’s Winter Million meeting last month.
This was not the first significant prize Scott Dixon’s runner has captured on the all-weather, with the seven-year-old having been successful in the 2022 Listed Hever Sprint.
Dixon said: “One Night Stand is in really good shape. We had hoped to find another race for him at Lingfield but there wasn’t anything over five furlongs. He was entered in the Kachy Stakes but it looked a monstrous field and we thought we should swerve that.
“He had a condylar fracture in 2022 and it has been a long road back for him. Although the prognosis for such injuries is very good, it seemed to take him a long time to rebuild his confidence.
“Thankfully, he seems to be getting back towards his best now and I don’t see why he can’t win another race before the end of the season. I don’t think a mark of 88 stops him under the right conditions because he has won off higher in the past.
“He ran well to be second at Wolverhampton in December, when he was drawn widest of all, although he does seem to favour Lingfield. It is funny because he is 17.2hh with a big stride and, to look at, you’d think he wants a galloping track, so I find it quite bizarre that he loves the tight turns of Lingfield.”
Top weight Silky Wilkie aims to build on his comeback seventh behind One Night Stand at Lingfield Park last month. The five-year-old enjoyed a busy campaign in 2023 for Karl Burke, including runner-up finishes in Listed races at York and Beverley.
Newmarket handicap scorer Kinta has also run well at Listed level for George Boughey, going down by a neck to Willem Twee in November’s BetUK Golden Rose Stakes at Lingfield Park.
David O’Meara’s Alligator Alley is only 1lb higher than when winning a £100,000 Racing League handicap at Newcastle in August, while the Anthony Brittain-trained Mondammej makes a quick reappearance after a fast-finishing second at Newcastle’s Sunday night fixture last weekend.
Those further down the weights are the returning Harry Brown, who has not been out of the first three in six all-weather starts for David Simcock, and Ruth Carr’s dual course scorer Reigning Profit.
