MARKET RASEN'S forward-thinking and go-ahead executive have come up trumps by once again staging the much sought-after £65,000 Summer Plate Handicap Chase.
Very few jumps races are worth anything like that sort of cash at this time of year, and thankfully the course have been rewarded with a classy field for the two-and-three-quarter-mile contest.
Coming into the event no horse is in better shape than Crathorne (3.40), who has shrugged off his one-time bad-boy reputation to knock in a stunning chasing hat-trick during recent weeks.
There have been occasions when Martin Todhunter's chunky seven-year-old didn't always seem to have the heart for job, but those days are now long gone and he's become a model of consistency.
Crathorne's latest Uttoxeter victory came over two miles, however he hasn't got any stamina issues, if anything he might be even better tackling an extra six furlongs under Brian Harding's expert guidance.
The other major prize to be had on the card is the opening £40,000 Summer Hurdle, a two-miler nicely teed up for the bottom weight, Im Spartacus ( 2.05).
Not only has the Evan Williams-trained Welsh raider won two from three to date over timber, Im Spartacus also picked up a middle-distance handicap on the level at Nottingham in May.
Knowing the way Evan operates, he'll have freshened up his classy five-year-old specifically to land a potentially mega-payday for the versatile and tough-as-teak gelding.
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