It wasn’t all that long ago that Areen Heart was the apple of Richard Fahey’s eye and, although the Exceed And Excel gelding hasn’t quite hit the heights that the Musley Bank trainer perhaps thought he might earlier in his career, he has, at least, made up into a consistent, albeit modest, handicapper. The four-year-old lines up in the Sunracing.co.uk Handicap at Lingfield on Wednesday and appears to have every chance of recording his second course and distance win.
Areen Heart took a few runs to find his form following his transfer to David O’Meara just over a year ago but, following a 171-day break, has run well more than not since returning to action in May. Indeed, he deserves a change of fortune, having been beaten three-quarters of a length, a neck and a neck on his last three outings, including in a better race than this over course and distance three starts ago. At 4-1 it looks like good value to us, and you can sign up here if you’re looking to place a bet with an online bookmaker. He’s actually 3lb better off for the short head he finished in front of Breaking Records when they were second and third, respectively, behind Dubai One in a similar race at Wolverhampton 11 days ago so, granted luck in running, he should confirm the form with that rival.
With the possible exception of topweight Belle Meade, who’s now 14lb higher in the weights than when last winning a handicap and has run poorly on both attempts on Polytrack, nothing else really makes much appeal. Areen Heart remains competitively weighted and, despite his recent bout of ‘seconditis’, can gain an overdue win.
Selection: Lingfield 1.10 Areen Heart to win 4/1