Lord North is the headline act as Lingfield Park stages three Listed races on Polytrack, including two Fast-Track Qualifiers, as part of an eight-race card on Saturday, November 16.
Trained by John Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori, Lord North has been in excellent form this autumn, posting impressive victories at Newmarket in the Cambridgeshire Handicap and the Listed James Seymour Stakes.
The three-year-old bids for a second All-Weather victory in the feature £37,000 Listed Betway Churchill Stakes (2.45pm, seven runners) over 10 furlongs, which offers a free and guaranteed place in the £200,000 Betway Easter Classic over the same course and distance on Good Friday, April 10.
Lord North's only start on the All-Weather to date saw him saunter to an 11-length victory in a novice race on Tapeta at Newcastle in April. He is the 8/11 favourite with Betway.
Gosden also saddles Crossed Baton (Pierre Charles-Boudot), a G2 runner-up in France last year. The four-year-old has had a light campaign so far in 2019, latterly finishing second in a conditions race at Epsom Downs on August 26.
Caradoc (Ed Walker/Kieran Shoemark) tackles Listed company for the first time following a progressive turf campaign. The son of Camelot has won two of his last three starts and produced a strong late run to score narrowly on his latest outing in a valuable 10-furlong handicap at Newbury in September.
All-Weather stalwart Pactolus (Stuart Williams/Richard Kingscote) ran well to be third in a mile handicap at Kempton Park on October 10, having met trouble in running. The eight-year-old, a 12-time winner on the All-Weather, finished third behind Matterhorn in the £200,000 Betway Easter Classic on his latest visit to Lingfield Park.
The seven runners also include Petite Jack (Neil King/Luke Morris), winner of the Listed Betway Quebec Stakes over course and distance in 2017, and progressive three-year-old Kuwait Currency (Richard Hannon/Sean Levey). Course scorer Mr Scaramanga (Simon Dow/Adam Kirby) completes the line-up.
A maximum field of 14 goes to post in the second Fast-Track Qualifier on the card, the £37,000 Listed Betway Golden Rose Stakes (3.15pm). The winner of six-furlong contest receives a guaranteed start in the £150,000 Betway All-Weather Sprint Championship over the same distance on Good Friday, April 10.
A classy line-up is headed up by G3 scorers Judicial (Julie Camacho/Callum Rodriguez) and Above The Rest (David Barron/Clifford Lee), plus 2017 victor Gifted Master (Hugo Palmer/Jack Mitchell).
Judicial underwent wind surgery in June and has since won two of his four starts, including the Listed Beverley Bullet Sprint on August 31. The seven-year-old, who has not raced on the All-Weather since 2017, finished fifth last time out in the G3 World Trophy at Newbury on September 21.
Assistant trainer Steve Brown said today: "We have been very pleased with Judicial's preparation.
"Obviously, we are trying something a bit different with him but, if all goes well, it will open up other avenues going forward.
"The wind operation has clearly made a difference. He has won twice since and we were pleased enough with him at Newbury.
"We kept him back for this race, it's just a shame the draw [stall 12] has not been kind, but we will see how it unfolds.
"We ran him on the All-Weather as a young horse and he was impressive in winning a race a Kempton.
"I don't see the track posing a problem, as he is quite handy around Chester on the turf and has a good record there."
There is Irish representation courtesy of Beckford (Gordon Elliott IRE/Chris Hayes). The four-year-old was one of the leading juveniles in Ireland in 2017, finishing second in both the G1 Phoenix Stakes and G1 National Stakes.
Further Listed action is provided by the £37,500 British Stallion Studs EBF Gillies Fillies' Stakes (2.10pm, 14 runners), 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.
Lightly-raced Godolphin filly Magic Lily (Charlie Appleby/Jason Watson) is arguably the most interesting runner in the 10-furlong contest. She finished third behind Laurens in the G1 Fillies' Mile at Newmarket in October 2017 and has only had one start since, taking second in a Listed race at Saint-Cloud on October 4.
John Gosden and Frankie Dettori team up with Scentasia, winner of the Listed Ladbrokes Home Of The Odds Boost EBF Fleur De Lys Fillies' Stakes at Lingfield Park last month, while G3 runner-up Simply Beautiful (Seamie Heffernan) is one of two runners for Ireland's champion Flat trainer Aidan O'Brien.
Progressive three-year-old Eva Maria (Richard Fahey/Callum Shepherd) is another eye-catching runner.
The eight-race programme starts at 11.55pm and ends at 3.45pm.
