Can Ice Max Build on His Bath Win or Will There Be a Strong Challenger?

Predicting which horses are going to improve markedly as they start their second season after a long break isn’t much more than educated guesswork. This is especially true for horses returning from at least six months off. Tread carefully as nine runners are making their reappearance after being off for between 159 and 232 days.

It’s difficult to gauge how much they may have come on during their time off. Conditions like a higher handicap, different footing, and a more competitive race can significantly impact a horse’s performance. Cerulean Bay’s trainer, David O’Meara, notes that the horse has been gelded since his last race and is expected to improve considerably this year.

However, the horse doesn’t favor straight tracks, hence why it will be running around Musselburgh. Power Of Zeus, trained by Brian Ellison, won his first two starts but didn’t perform well in the Solario Stakes at Sandown. Despite not being the biggest, he is expected to progress this season.

Silent Move, owned by Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum, doesn’t show much at home, so the race management team is using a race to evaluate the horse’s potential for the future. Arantes Nascimento, trained by Julie Camacho and assisted by Steve Brown, won well at Thirsk last year, but the penalty may have affected his performance at Carlisle. The horse has been gelded since then and has completed a good winter.

The last horse mentioned has an interesting profile, having won as a two-year-old. The trainers are happy with the horse as it goes into a race despite an increase in grade.