In the MPM Flooring Handicap (7.00) at Windsor on Monday evening, Midnight Meeting didn’t see a racecourse until June but, after finishing a never-dangerous fifth of eight, beaten 8¾ lengths, over an extended mile at Nottingham on his debut, has quickly compensated for lost time. The son of Dubawi was the comfortable winner of a novice stakes races over the same course and distance a fortnight later and was similarly untroubled when stepped up to a mile and a quarter, under today’s jockey, Hayley Turner, at Salisbury 16 days ago.
The Salisbury contest lacked any strength in depth, but Midnight Meeting quickened away in the closing stages, under hands-and-heels riding, to beat his only serious market rival, Respectable, by 2½ lengths. Respectable let the form down when beaten again, in a lowly novice median auction stakes race at Lingfield, last Saturday, but that shouldn’t be held against Midnight Meeting, who is improving race-by-race. Indeed, he’s entered in the Great Voltigeur at York later this month and the St. Leger at Doncaster in September and, if those entries are realistic, you’d really expect him to win a race of this nature with something in hand.
Saeed bin Suroor remains in excellent form, with 9-21 (43%) strike rate in the last 14 days, while Hayley Turner, who doesn’t ride many for the Newmarket trainer, has a 2-5 (40%) strike rate for the yard this season. Historically, Saeed bin Suroor has also done well with his three-year-olds at Windsor, where he has a 9-23 (39%) strike rate with that age group over the last five seasons.
Selection: Windsor 7.00 Midnight Meeting to win