Flat racing returns with a bang at Lingfield Park on Saturday, November 16, with three Listed races, including two Fast Track Qualifiers, headlining a bumper eight-race card.
The 10-furlong £37,000 Listed Betway Churchill Stakes (2.45pm) offers a free and guaranteed place in the £200,000 Betway Easter Classic over the same course and distance on Good Friday, April 10.
A total of 17 entries for this year's race include 112-rated three-year-old Lord North, an 11-length winner on his only previous All-Weather appearance at Newcastle in April.
The John Gosden-trained son of Dubawi, 13/8 favourite with Betway, captured the Cambridgeshire Handicap at Newmarket in September and gained an impressive win at the same course in the Listed James Seymour Stakes on November 2
Century Dream (3/1, Simon Crisford) was third in the 2018 G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the five-year-old was also in action at Newmarket on November 2 when he filled the runner-up spot in the Listed Ben Marshall Stakes.
Caradoc (14/1) is due to step up to Listed company for the first time following a progressive turf campaign for Ed Walker. The son of Camelot has won two of his last three starts and produced a strong late run to score by half a length on his latest outing in a valuable 10-furlong handicap at Newbury in September.
Walker, who trains in Upper Lambourn, said: "Caradoc is in great form. We were hoping to run him on the turf before the end of the season but the ground was just too soft.
"We are going to see how we go on the All-Weather and this is a bit of a fact-finding mission to see what our options are. If he wins this weekend and gets a ticket for Finals Day, it would be the obvious starting point for next year, but if he doesn't win, then we will probably rough him off and leave him alone for the winter.
"He is a very smart horse and we have always thought a lot of him. He is lightly-raced but is getting there now and I think he will be a very good horse for next year."
Other notable entries include Victory Bond (William Haggas), who was runner-up to Master The World in the 2017 Betway Churchill Stakes before going on to win the Betway Easter Classic later the same season.
Set Piece (Hugo Palmer) is unbeaten in two All-Weather starts and the three-year-old could make only his second appearance since finishing down the field in the G1 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. His owner Khalid Abdullah could also be represented by Crossed Baton (John Gosden), a G2 runner-up on turf in France.
Veteran All-Weather performers Pactolus (Stuart Williams) and Petite Jack (Neil King) have been entered alongside improving three-year-olds Alrajaa (John Gosden) and Ardiente (Ed Vaughan).
Full betting on the Betway Churchill Stakes is available from Betway here.
Saturday's second Fast Track Qualifier is the six-furlong £37,000 Listed Betway Golden Rose Stakes (3.15pm), with a Finals Day place up for grabs in the £150,000 Betway All-Weather Sprint Championship over the same distance.
Hugo Palmer has won the two most recent renewals and the Newmarket trainer has entered the 2017 victor Gifted Master. His rivals could include G3 Mercury Stakes third Corinthia Knight (Archie Watson) and the Dean Ivory-trained duo of Lancelot du Lac and Stake Acclaim.
Four-year-old filly Maygold, a nursery handicap winner over five furlongs at Lingfield Park in September, 2017, has thrived on the turf this year, rising from a mark of 75 to her current mark of 97.
The Mayson filly quickened from last to first to readily win a five-furlong handicap at Haydock Park in September and returns to Polytrack following two good efforts in Listed turf sprints, most recently when finishing a close fifth at Maisons-Laffitte, France, on October 12.
Her trainer Ed Walker said: "It was a real shame that Doncaster's meeting was called off as I think Maygold would have loved the conditions there, and I think she will take her chance at Lingfield. She has a very good turn of foot and six furlongs around Lingfield will suit.
"She has won round the course, albeit in much lesser company, and is a filly who has just got better and better with racing. She is probably at her best on really soft ground but this race is worth a shot and we would be very happy if she can get some black type."
G3 winners Judicial (Julie Camacho) and Above The Rest (David Barron), plus Beckford (Gordon Elliott IRE), who was twice runner-up at G1 level as a juvenile, also feature among the 25 entries.
Further Listed action is provided by the £37,500 British Stallion Studs EBF Gillies Fillies' Stakes (2.10pm), which has been switched to Lingfield Park following the abandonment of Doncaster's fixture on November 9 and therefore does not form part of the All-Weather Championships.
The 10-furlong contest has attracted a bumper 28 entries including Scentasia (John Gosden), an easy winner of the mile Listed Ladbrokes Home Of The Odds Boost EBF Fleur De Lys Fillies' Stakes at Lingfield Park on October 31.
Recent Naas Listed second Quote and G3-placed Simply Beautiful, both trained by Aidan O'Brien, have also been entered along with lightly-raced four-year-old Magic Lily (Charlie Appleby), who was third in the G1 Fillies' Mile on her penultimate start in October, 2017.
Racing gets underway at 11.55am and runs through until 3.45pm.
