IMPRESSOR, trained by Glasgow Stakes-winning jockey Phillip Makin, bids for a third Hamilton Park strike of the season on Monday evening. The Yorkshire raider shoulders top-weight in the Book Your Tickets @hamilton-park.co.uk “Hands And Heels” Apprentice Handicap. “He’s just turned himself inside out this year,” said Makin of the gelding who cost a mere 800gns at the 2020 autumn sales. “The ground and trip should be fine again and we all know he loves the track.”

Rivals to Impressor include Refuge, a four-time scorer at the South Lanarkshire venue and in-form Iain Jardine’s recent Ayr winner Borough. In the feature race, the £25,000 Allstone Group Scottish Trophy Handicap, one of the market principals, Shine On Brendan, is also chasing a fifth course victory. Trained by Jim Goldie, his latest Hamilton Park payday came by just a neck on Ladies Night nine-days ago.

In a competitive nine-furlong contest, Daragh Bourke’s hat-trick seeking Gainsbourg and Dubawi Warrior, a handicap debutant trained in Newmarket by William Haggas, are just two others with leading chances.

By Gordon Brown