Cast No Shadow makes his seventh start of the year at Wolverhampton this evening in the Class 4 Handicap over five furlongs (18:30).

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 Cast No Shadow's lucky owners for the day across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).

Raceday LIVE Preview

Cast No Shadow kicked off 2024 with his sole effort over the six furlong trip at Kempton, the only time the horse has made the journey to that track too. It was a tough contest that day, in a relatively warm Class 4 race and our newly turned three year old was eased down under David Probert, coming home last of the eight runners. 

He was switched back to a five furlong race on the tapeta at Southwell following that race, and the decision was franked as Cast No Shadow ran on incredibly well after losing ground two furlongs from home, to just get narrowly edged out by a short-head.

Cast No Shadow narrowly misses out in a photo finish at Southwell

Cast No Shadow clearly wasn't disheartened by that agonising second place finish as he bounced back in style in the rain at Newcastle less than a month later, when making all to win with ease by a three and a half length margin. It was to be expected on that day, as he was dropped in class from his previous appearances and sent off a short priced 2/7 favourite.

WATCH: Cast No Shadow shakes his maiden tag at Newcastle

Following that convincing victory, Hugo Palmer tried to run Cast No Shadow on the turf, to see if he was hitting his stride at the perfect time and that a summer campaign was on the cards. That experiment didn't quite go to plan however, as our gelding wasn't able to translate his form on the tapeta to the grass at either Windsor or Catterick. He ended up finishing a detached seventh out of seven runners in both contests and the decision was made to send him back to the all-weather where we know he can perform.

Cast No Shadow in the parade ring at Windsor

Now, Cast No Shadow makes his return to the track this afternoon, following a three month layoff. He was last seen at Newcastle, where he scored for the second time in his career over five furlongs at Newcastle. He made all that day under former Champion Jockey Silvestre De Sousa, after taking a chunk of distance at the start of the race, our Hugo Palmer-trained gelding stayed on gamely towards the end of the contest to hold off the field that were closing in. 

WATCH: Hugo Palmer reflects on Cast No Shadow's second win at Newcastle

Trainer and Jockey Statistics

Hugo Palmer has been in pretty fair form recently, winning six times from 37 runners in the last fortnight (16% strike-rate), including two winners yesterday at Newmarket. He's been in great form at Wolverhampton this season, winning seven times at Dunstall Park having sent only 29 runners there (29% strike-rate). Even his lifetime form at the track is impressive, returning with a winner 20% of the time he's sent a runner there (69 winners from 339 runners).

Sean Dylan Bowen has been in incredible form in the UK this season, winning 37 times in 287 rides, and the current leader of the Apprentice Jockeys' Championship is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon as his form has been excellent recently, with eight winners from 40 rides. Four of those winners have come at Wolverhampton this year and he's finished in the top three at Dunstall Park a further 11 times.

Raceday Update from Hugo Palmer

"It’s been a slightly frustrating summer for Cast No Shadow, we would liked to have run him at one of the Racing League fixtures at Newcastle or Southwell, but obviously we weren’t selected, and as it’s clear he acts best on the all-weather surfaces, we’ve kept him off the turf.

It’s also clear that he goes best of all over the straight five furlongs at Newcastle, but he’s ready to run and needs to run, and as this race was in the calendar, and he got into it, we’re very happy to run. He has run around a bend before, so it doesn’t concern me that we’re doing that here, and he’s also a more experienced horse now, so I think he will handle his first run at Wolverhampton.

In our favour, we’re drawn well in stall three, we have an apprentice jockey in Sean D Bowen who is riding brilliantly and riding plenty of winners, and our horses are running well generally, so hopefully this fellow can keep that going."

Cast No Shadow'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 Cast No Shadow's run at Wolverhampton this afternoon.

Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Wolverhampton Racecourse, including exclusive access to Owners & Trainers areas. They'll have the opportunity to meet Cast No Shadow and the Hugo Palmer 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 Cast No Shadow.

Prize Money

Today's Class 5 contest is worth £9,500 in total, with the winner set to scoop £4,972 for their lucky owners.

2nd: £2,333 | 3rd: £1,165 | 4th: £583 | 5th: £290

Chris Dixon, Racing TV Analyst, gives us his thoughts on Cast No Shadow's chance in the race and some of the other key contenders in the contest.

Cast No Shadow has had 3 months off since winning at Newcastle in June but that shouldn’t be an issue given that victory came on the back of a 64-day break and he’s clearly a horse who goes well fresh. The most important factor for Cast No Shadow appears to be racing on an all-weather surface where his record reads 4240211 so it looks like a good move to have waited for a suitable AW race to bring him back just ahead of the start of the winter season.

Both his wins have come at Newcastle but his style of racing is likely to be seen to just as good effect around Wolverhampton, especially from what looks an advantageous draw in stall 3. There is some other pace pressure in the field so an easy lead may not be on the cards but he’s not reliant on that scenario and the race sets up pretty well for him. The form of his Newcastle win hasn’t proved anything special and more will be required up in class here but the handicapper has only given him a 2lbs rise and the presence of Sean Dylan Bowen’s handy 3lbs claim is a help. A good run can be expected.

Grace Angel is also off a higher mark following a last-time-out win but is 2lbs well-in under a penalty and is the horse to beat from a good draw with her yard in top form. Mini Magna has eased to a good mark and ran well at York last time for a yard that are likely to start hitting form over the next couple of months, but his draw in 10 looks an issue and the suspicion is he’d need a pace collapse to win from there. Michaela’s Boy is potentially well-handicapped but struggling for consistent so is difficult to predict, while it could be worth keeping an eye on the unexposed El Bufalo who returns from a break following wind surgery and won well on his only previous run at this track.

     18:30 WOLVERHAMPTON – LATEST ODDS     

We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 18:30 to watch Cast No Shadow's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.