Orandi chasing historic handicap double at Doncaster

Just under a fortnight after plundering the Irish Lincolnshire at the Curragh, Tony Martin’s Orandi bids to complete a famous double in the William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster on Saturday.

No horse has landed the two major Flat spring handicaps in the same season, although Sweet Lightning’s name is on the roll of honour for both, having struck at Doncaster in 2011 for Michael Dods and in the Irish equivalent two years later for Tommy Carmody.

The only Irish-trained winner of the Doncaster race so far has been Dermot Weld’s Saving Mercy in 1984 and Orandi will carry a 5lb penalty for his Curragh win, with Rossa Ryan booked for the ride.

“He seems in good form so we’ll let him go and take his chance,” said the County Meath handler.

“He did it really well at the Curragh and seems to have come out of the race well.

“I’m sure the ground will be fine and we’ve a good jockey on board, so that should help.”

Karl Burke has a couple of major contenders in ante-post favourite Thunder Run and Native Warrior.

Thunder Run won three times last season before finishing fourth when favourite for the Balmoral Handicap on Champions Day, while the lightly-raced Native Warrior was third in the Britannia Stakes at the Royal meeting.

Burke said: “Native Warrior is working very, very well – he’s definitely stepped up for being gelded at the end of last season. He’s getting 7lb off the other horse and I don’t think there will be a lot between them.

“Thunder Run saves a fair bit for the racetrack and I think if everything stays right with him he’s at least a Group Three-type of horse, that’s the way he works, and the other fella is not far behind him.”

He added: “This has been the target for both horses really. They seem in great form, they’ve done plenty of work and their weight is good, but you never know in these big handicaps first time out, it’s always tough.

Native Warrior is one of two runners for Wathnan Racing along with Hamad Al Jehani’s Midnight Gun, with the owners’ retained rider James Doyle siding with the latter.

Richard Brown, Wathnan’s racing adviser, said of Midnight Gun: “He’s done very well over the winter. We gelded him and he has really strengthened and thickened out, which doesn’t happen to most horses when you geld them.

“James rode him in a piece of work at Chelmsford last week and was very impressed, but it wasn’t a straightforward decision for him to choose Midnight Gun, as Native Warrior won his side in the Britannia and I think James actually thought he’d won that day before looking over and realising he hadn’t.”

The weights are headed by the Charlie Hills-trained Galeron, who won the Goffs Million in Ireland three years ago and was fourth in Chaldean’s 2000 Guineas the following spring.

The five-year-old has since enjoyed a spell in Australia, but returned to Hills’ Lambourn base earlier this year and the trainer said: “It’s great to have him back and we’ll see how he gets on, he should run pretty decent.

“I don’t think he’ll want extremes of ground, but anything like good to soft should suit him. A big field should suit him, too.”

Toimy Son won the Golden Mile at Goodwood last season before finishing third in the Cambridgeshire and sixth in the Balmoral Handicap.

“I’ve seen nothing off him to say he isn’t in the same form this year, so we’re hopeful,” said his trainer David Menuisier, who struck two years ago with Migration.

“With the help of Warren (Fentiman) claiming 5lb, if all goes according to plan he should run a good race.”