The longest race of the day comes in the 2nd race at Salisbury with this Class 3 contest over 1-mile 6-furlongs. Tynwald has a lot of questions to answer after a poor showing at Doncaster and is readily ruled out. Zoffee is harder to assess. A winning chaser for Philip Hobbs, he will make his first start on the flat since September 2020 and the switch to Hugo Palmer would suggest his connections prefer a Flat campaign for him, but on the balance of his form he needs to be opposed on his first start since November. Spirit Mixer is bred to be so much better than a mark of 79, a son of Frankel out of Arabian Queen, he has won at a lower level, including over this course and distance last August. However, he failed to see out his race here 2-weeks ago and the suspicion is he may need a few more lbs back from the handicapper to get his head in front again.
By the process of elimination that brings us to OMAN. He won his maiden here on his first start of last season and ran with credit throughout the 2021 campaign, including when winning over this distance at Chester on a mark of 87 in July. Backing Ralph Beckett runners at Salisbury at distances beyond 12-furlongs returns a LSP of +£15.80 at a 26% strike rate and that could easily improve with Oman. He looks to be the confirmed stayer in the lineup who is handicapped to win in this company.
