David Lowe's All-Weather speed machine Kachy is set to make his eagerly anticipated return in the £45,000 Listed Betway Cleves Stakes (1.45pm, 12 entries), a race he has won for the last two years, at Lingfield Park on Saturday, February 1.
The six-furlong Polytrack contest is the first of two Fast-Track Qualifiers on the card and provides the winner with a free and a guaranteed start in the £150,000 Betway All-Weather Sprint Championship at Lingfield Park on Finals Day, Good Friday, April 10.
Kachy (Tom Dascombe) was sensational during the 2018/19 All-Weather Championships, winning all three of his starts by an aggregate of just under 13 lengths whilst lowering course records at Wolverhampton and Lingfield Park.
The seven-year-old broke Lingfield Park's six-furlong course record in the 2019 Betway Cleves Stakes with a blistering time of 1m 8.32s and rounded off a perfect All-Weather season with a majestic display in the £150,000 Betway All-Weather Sprint Championship on Good Friday, atoning for his agonising defeat at the hands of City Light 12 months previously.
Kachy, who has been successful in five of his six starts on the All-Weather, has not raced since finishing third behind Blue Point in the G1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.
Lowe said: "Kachy is firmly on course for the Cleves Stakes. Everything has gone to plan in his preparation for this race and Tom and all the team are delighted with him.
"We are much happier with him now than we were in December, which is why we decided to miss the race at Wolverhampton.
"The plan was always to come back for the All-Weather because he loves it around those turns. People have suggested we should send him abroad and that sort of thing, but we absolutely love him to bits and the endgame for us is to breed from him. He won't be sold to anyone.
"He looks almost unbeatable on a left-handed All-Weather track, provided nothing goes wrong. He is a joy to watch and has changed our lives over the last couple of years, because you could never dream of owning a horse like him.
"Some people are not in love with the All-Weather racing like they are turf racing, but the thrill of watching him perform like he did at Wolverhampton and Lingfield last season, you just cannot beat it. They were wow moments.
"Finals Day has always been touted as his swansong before his retirement. He has been the horse of a lifetime for me. I speak to Michael Owen when I go up to Tom's and he says he felt the same thing with Brown Panther. I will probably never have another one like Kachy and it has been a privilege to have him.
"Hopefully, he can go out on a high by winning the Cleves for a third time and then going onto Finals Day."
The 12 entries for the Betway Cleves Stakes also include the classy Momkin (William Haggas), who was twice a runner-up at G3 level in 2019 for Roger Charlton, including over a mile the Craven Stakes at Newmarket.
Hamdan Al Maktoum's Habub (Owen Burrows) could also drop back to sprinting distances, having not raced since winning a mile conditions race impressively at Chelmsford City in October.
Good Effort (Ismail Mohammed) and Royal Birth (Stuart Williams), who were first and second in a Fast-Track Qualifier at Newcastle on January 8, and Listed Betway Golden Rose Stakes second Tinto (Amanda Perrett) are also engaged.
An excellent renewal of the £45,000 Listed Betway Winter Derby Trial (2.55pm) is in prospect, with Bangkok (Andrew Balding) and Global Giant (John Gosden) headlining the eight entries.
The 10-furlong prize, a key pointer towards the £100,000 G3 Betway Winter Derby over the course and distance on February 22, is a Fast-Track Qualifier for the £200,000 Betway Easter Classic on Good Friday.
Bangkok sets the standard with a rating of 112 following a good campaign on turf in 2019. The four-year-old was an impressive winner of the G3 Sandown Classic Trial in April and followed that up with several good efforts, most notably when second to Japan in the G2 King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Champion trainer John Gosden has the exciting Global Giant among his two entries, as he tries to win the Betway Winter Derby Trial for the third successive year. A Listed winner on the All-Weather for Ed Dunlop in 2018, Global Giant made a sparkling debut for Gosden and new owner Isa Salman when impressively landing a nine and a half-furlong conditions race at Wolverhampton on January 6.
Gosden's other entry Court House has a good record at Lingfield Park. He finished third in this race last year behind stablemate Wissahickon before going on to take second behind the same rival in the Betway Winter Derby.
Other entries to note are the 2018 Betway Winter Derby hero Master The World (David Elsworth), Extra Elusive (Roger Charlton), who has not been seen out since finishing second in a 10-furlong Listed race at Sandown Park in July, and Deauville Fast-Track Qualifier victor Dalgarno (Jane Chapple-Hyam).
Lingfield Park's seven-race programme starts at 12.35pm and ends at 4.05pm. Tickets can be found here and you can save £5pp when you book online.
