Alzao presented with stamina test

The Macmillan Charity Day is now into its 40th year on Knavesmire and today's start to the two-day fixture is always a lively card for punters to sink their teeth into.

The feature event is the sportingbet.com Bet On Your iPhone Stayers Handicap, in which The Last Alzao tackles a true stamina test for the first time in her career.

Richard Fahey's filly struck form with a hat-trick at this time last year and looks like carrying on in the same vein, judging by the resolute nature of her recent Haydock success.

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The way she put her head down and outbattled Rub Of The Relic over that mile and a quarter suggested she is well worth a try over this afternoon's two-mile trip, and she is related to a winning chaser so there is stamina in the family.

She will need to stay, though, because with the likes of confirmed front-runner Bogside Theatre in the field, there will be no place to hide, and Tim Easterby's Deauville Flyer, who won at the Dante meeting here, is also a legitimate danger.

Fahey appears to have another leading chance, this time courtesy of Joe Jo Star in the Future Cleaning Services Apprentice Handicap.

The former Swinton Hurdle hero took this off an 11lb lower mark 12 months ago, but he slaughtered his rivals by upwards of seven lengths on that occasion and has developed into a decent novice chaser in the interim.

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He has been freshened up since taking a tumble at the Grand National meeting and probably still has scope for improvement in this sphere.

He faces no easy task, though, with five last-start winners in the line-up headed by Dandy Nicholls' Northern Acres, who has relatively few miles on the clock and looked good at Ripon.

Perhaps surprisingly, 'sprint king' Nicholls isn't represented in the sportingbet.com World Cup Daily Offers Handicap over the minimum trip, where Equuleus Pictor is another 2009 winner back to defend his crown.

Recent evidence fails to inspire confidence, however, and the opposition includes Malcolm Saunders' up-and-coming four-year-old Captain Carey, who goes for the hat-trick.

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The Fraam gelding has struck up a good partnership with Tom McLaughlin and supplemented a Wolverhampton triumph with a victory at Chepstow. But this is his toughest test to date, and he faces a combined Easterby attack, namely Favourite Girl and Atlantic Story.

Tim Easterby's Favourite Girl ended a lengthy losing run when making all at Catterick at the end of last month, but the one to side with could be the Mick Easterby-trained Atlantic Story, who was last seen landing a Lingfield event in January but is a massive 20lb better off in the turf sphere.

The Easterby family is responsible for no less than four runners in the SKF Rous Selling Stakes, but they all have their work cut out to contend with Daas Rite.

The son of Byron didn't do too badly in a couple of maidens, but Kevin Ryan wasted no time in dropping him down to this level at Thirsk and he duly justified 9-4 favouritism with the minimum of fuss.

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Admittedly he has to step up another gear in a field this size – Russian Ice in particular has the form in the book to trouble him – but that win in North Yorkshire will have buoyed his confidence and he remains one to follow in the right company.

There can't be many horses in training deserving of a success more than Master Macho and Mick Channon sends him to the well once more in the opening Win A Million Pounds With sportingbet.com EBF Maiden.

With eight runs under his belt already, he has hit the crossbar on his last four attempts, coming closest on the latest of those when touched off by Eucharist in a head-bobbing finish at Sandown. He had the reopposing Tilliemint behind at Haydock prior to that so Imperialistic Diva is the logical one for forecast-backers, providing newcomers Mayson, Da'Quonde and Miss Mediator are nothing special.

The latter is saddled by the in-form Michael Dods, whose Best Prospect will be on plenty of shortlists for the sportingbet.com World Cup Betting Handicap.

The eight-year-old often flatters to deceive but the application of a visor may just coax that bit extra out of him where it matters most.