Aspire To Glory makes his seasonal reappearance this afternoon in the Class 6 Handicap (17:25) over seven furlongs at Leicester. 

Read our Raceday LIVE Preview below and join us ahead of the race for all the build-up and live updates from the track with the team and Aspire To Glory's lucky owners for the day across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).

Raceday LIVE Preview

Aspire To Glory had a busy winter schedule, running six times on the all weather between November and February, before being put away for a couple of months in preparation for the start of the flat-turf season. In that period, he won back-to-back races over seven furlongs at Kempton and Lingfield, whilst becoming the club's first ever flat winner, before coming up just short when going for the hat-trick after finishing third back at Kempton.

WATCH: Aspire To Glory makes it two wins on the bounce

Following that consistent run of top efforts over seven furlongs, Aspire To Glory was stepped up to a mile on his final start where he finished fifth, but still ran with plenty of credit. That race has had a couple of form boosts since, with the winner, Con Te Partiro, subsequently winning twice more for trainer Richard Spencer, and also the second placed runner, Eccentric, who got his head in front at the end of March.

Rewind the clock back to May last year and Aspire To Glory was making his debut on the turf at Doncaster over the minimum five furlong trip. Following that he had three more racecourse appearances through June and July, including one on the all-weather and two more on turf, all of which were over six furlongs, but he was still very much learning his trade in those early runs.

Trainer Alice Haynes had no doubt in her mind that we'd see the best of him when stepped up to seven furlongs or a mile, and it was the combination of that step up in trip and a fresh face in the saddle in the name of Tommie Jakes, which saw Aspire To Glory put it altogether for the first time at Kempton in December to get off the mark.

Tommie returns to the saddle today which is great news and he makes the trip to Leicester for just the one ride with Aspire To Glory. As we head into today's contest, we know that Aspire To Glory has to prove he can replicate his all-weather form on the turf, but if he can, he could be nicely handicapped off a mark of 53.

Raceday message from trainer Alice Haynes

Aspire To Glory did a nice piece of work on Friday morning, and hopefully it’s put him spot on for his reappearance at Leicester this afternoon.

Tommie [Jakes] was very happy with him, and we’re looking forward to today. He’s a nicely-handicapped horse and obviously gets on well with Tommie, so there should be winning opportunities to be found with him over the coming months.

He has done most of his racing on the all-weather, but there’s no reason to think he won’t be equally effective back on turf and while this looks a competitive heat, he goes into it in good shape.

Aspire To Glory's Owners for the Day

As winners of the Owner for the Day competition, 10 lucky Coral Racing Club members have been given the chance to enjoy an exclusive owners experience for Aspire To Glory's run at Leicester this afternoon.

Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Leicester Racecourse, including exclusive access to Owners & Trainers areas. They'll have the opportunity to meet Aspire To Glory and the Alice Haynes team, plus get to head into the parade ring before the race begins to be amongst all the other owners, trainers and jockeys. And last but by no means least, each winner will get to take home an equal 10% split of any prize money won by Aspire To Glory.

Today's Class 6 contest is worth £6,000 in total, with the winner set to scoop £3,140.40 for their lucky owners.

2nd: £1,473.60 | 3rd: £736.20 | 4th: £368.40 | 5th: £183.60

Trainer and Jockey Statistics

Alice Haynes last had a winner ten days ago, in a listed contest at San Siro over in Italy with Ziggy's Dream. She's had a further three placed runners in the last two weeks, as the flat season has been really getting into swing. At Leicester specifically, she has only ever sent 35 runners there so far in her career, resulting in three victories and another nine which have hit the frame. 

Tommie Jakes has started this year off where he left off last year, winning on fourteen occasions and finishing on the podium a further 23 times, earning over £130,000 in the process and returning £28.73 to a £1 level stake across all of his rides since January. The young conditional rode out his seven pound claim earlier in the year and only claims five now, having ridden his 20th winner in March of this year, and is halfway to the 50 winners mark, where his claim will drop to three pounds.

At The Races | Verdict

Teddy Brown was beaten less than a length when third at Redcar on his turf debut and any further progress will see him bang there once again, although RINNOVATI may edge this. The latter made a promising debut for Archie Watson's yard when runner-up at Kempton on her first start handicapping and there looks to be plenty more to come. Aspire To Glory has won off a similar mark on the all-weather and could go well, with Hits The Front and Eagle Landed perhaps best of the rest.

Today's opposition

• Rinnovati looks set to be at the top of the market for today's race, having finished a length back in second on his last appearance twenty days ago. The Archie Watson-trained filly has gone up two pounds for that performance and is rated a pound lower than Aspire To Glory. Hollie Doyle takes the ride for the first time.
  
  
• Teddy Brown lines up as the top weight in the race having finished third by half a length last Monday when he was last seen. His mark remains unchanged following that performance, and is only one pound lower than the handicapper gave him after his first three runs. Brandon Wilkie jumps onboard this afternoon, claiming five pounds.
  
  
• Maverick Style is the only horse in the field, other than Aspire To Glory, who has won over this seven furlong trip in the past, and that came at Chelmsford in December of last year. Paul and Oliver Cole have been in great form recently, with a strike rate of 20% and the talented Tom Marquand rides for them today.

   17:25 LEICESTER – LATEST BETTING HERE   

We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 17:25 to watch Aspire To Glory's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.