Aiden O’Brien has won this race 5 times in the last 10 years and 4 of those winners were making their first start of the season, so the lack of a recent run shouldn’t cause any real concern for backers of POINT LONSDALE. He won his first 4 starts last season before finding only Native Trail too good in the National Stakes at the Curragh, where he kept on nicely despite trying to match the strong early pace set by Ebro River. As a son of Australia, with entries in both Derbies, the 12-furlong Classic looks his main target for the season, but he showed enough speed over 7-furlongs last season to suggest that he should be competitive over the mile, especially with the rising ground in the final furlong of the Rowley Mile. His Sire finished 3rd in this race before going on to win at Epsom and although he has 8lbs to find with Native Trail, it is worth remembering that his juvenile campaign came to an end with that run in the National Stakes, whereas Native Trail took in the Dewhurst afterwards. Frankie Dettori has a 33% strike rate when riding for Aiden O’Brien at Newmarket, albeit from a small sample (2 wins from 6 rides), but we could hardly have hoped for a better jockey booking. Stall 11 could be worse, and he should be able to get into a prominent position from there. Although he will need to improve, he should be doing his best work in the closing stages and that makes him of definite each-way interest.
