Trainer Ross Burdon is back with his weekend preview, and is Ascot in search of a big prize thanks to Mighty Mesaafi. Read his thoughts in his exclusive kwiff blog!
Ross Burdon: Huge Weekend Preview, July 12th 2025
We’re all set for an exciting weekend. Mesaafi goes back to Ascot and lines up in the LK Bennett Butterfly Mark Heritage Handicap over 5 furlongs. It will be my first runner in a Heritage Handicap and despite his current odds of 25/1 I’m more than hopeful he will outrun them, he seems to be getting faster with racing and whilst I wouldn’t be keen to drop to five on a sharp track, I think Ascot’s stiff straight track should bring his stamina into play in the latter stages of the race.
Weekend Preview: Newmarket Bound
Looking at the race there is plenty of pace around us, Glamorous Breeze, who is drawn next to us, will most likely go forward and Alzahir is also a prominent racer on our side of the draw, so we should be able slot in and track those two runners, which is important for our horse as he loves to have something to aim at. It’s a big step Up in class from what we have been running in but I’m hopeful he can be competitive and if he can run well it means we can aim for similar races at the nice meetings with him.
Weekend Preview: The Price Is Right
Away from the racetrack, the majority of this week has been spent at the sales ring in Tattersalls. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to come away from there with any new horses, the market was incredibly strong and the horses that we were keen on ended up being sold above our budget. It’s frustrating not to end up buying at least one new horse but we have to be strict with our budget and not get drawn into over spending at this stage. While we are trying to grow the yard we need to be precise with our aims and targets and make sure we get the right horses for the right money, unfortunately this week that just wasn’t possible.
Weekend Preview: New Recruits
We have got one new recruit to the yard this week though, a horse we have been sent called D Day Major Winter arrived on Monday, having previously been with my old boss, Kevin Philippart de Foy. His owner, David Olver, is very keen on making him a winner after buying the horse as a foal and I’m very confident we can do that for David, being by Ulysses he looked in need of a step up in trip after being campaigned at a mile in his novice races and duly improved to finished second over an extended 1m3f at Lingfield. I think he could improve again going even further and hopefully it won’t take too long to shed his maiden tag.
By Ross Burdon
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