Nicol backing Wise Eagle to soar in November Handicap

Adam Nicol’s Wise Eagle is being lined up for a Virgin Bet November Handicap bid at Doncaster on Saturday.

The contest, worth over £36,000 to the winner, will be a step back down to a mile and a half for the gelding, who has competed over trips as much as a mile further in the past.

He was last seen in the Phil Bull Trophy Conditions Stakes at Pontefract, where he was beaten a length and a quarter into second place by Ralph Beckett’s Oxford Comma.

Wise Eagle was competing on soft ground on that occasion and conceding a stone to the winner, with Nicol hoping the step back in trip will suit him when combined with the slow surface expected on Town Moor at the weekend.

“We’re planning to run, I see they’ve got soft ground, which I don’t think will be a problem,” he said.

“He ran a good race the last day at Pontefract, which was nearly heavy. We always wonder how soft he really wants it but I think he ran a really good race that day.

“The filly that beat him is now rated 101, he’s rated 103 and he had to give her a stone with the fillies’ allowances and the three-year-old allowance.

“They went no gallop at all, so he ran very well, he’s in good form.

“He’s looking very well considering he’s been in training all year, he probably came back in in January but he’s taken it really well.

“I think with him being a bit older now, the soft ground is probably going to suit him a bit more, as they start to appreciate things happening a bit more slowly.

“We’re stepping back in trip but on a big, galloping track like Doncaster and on soft ground, I’m hoping it plays to his advantage.”

Also entered is William Haggas’ La Yakel, third at Listed level when last seen in the Stand Cup Stakes at Chester.

Raphael Freire’s Maxi King has his name on the list and so too does Archie Watson’s Beamish, with Ralph Beckett having entered both Lord Melbourne and Valvano.

Gordon Elliott has two in the mix in Omniscient and Royal Eagle, with the other trainers well represented including Alan King (Insanity and Loughville), David Menuisier (Master Builder and Waxing Gibbous) and Ian Williams (Dream Harder, Gallant Lion, Oneforthegutter).