'As long as the ground isn't too soft, I'd say he has a great chance' - can Lihyan follow up?

It took the best part of a year, a drop in the handicap of 22lb and eight runs for Rebecca Menzies to get Lihyan to add to his sole success for Josh Halley in Ireland, but now he's off the mark it won't be a surprise if he goes in again.

Lihyan clearly relished the step up to 2m4f and a strong gallop when a ready winner under 7lb claimer William Maggs last month, and an 8lb rise might not stop him if he's in the same mood.

What might is the lack of guaranteed pace as he tends to be held up, and those tactics are not easy if they don't go quick enough at Musselburgh.

There are a few prominent racers, though, and a couple who have made the running before, including Heartbreak Kid, who was in front under Maggs when running out at the fourth at Sedgefield on Boxing Day.

That was out of character for a horse better known as a chaser (it was his first hurdles run for three years) and who may well have had his eye on the fence coming up on his inner as the two obstacles were pretty close together.

Heartbreak Kid was fairly well backed, and is undoubtedly well treated on the pick of his chase and hurdles form.

Of the others, Les's Legacy is back hurdling after two below-par efforts over fences, but seems handicapped up to his best, while Monochromix was another well below form last time, although 3m on heavy ground may have stretched him.

Leading Force, yet another to have been ridden by Maggs last time, albeit in April, needs to show more than he did when a distant fourth on his handicap debut after a string of novice/maiden seconds.
Race analysis by Paul Kealy

Ground latest

The going was described officially as soft, good to soft in places on Thursday and only a small amount of rain was forecast overnight.

What they say

Sandy Thomson, trainer of Leading Force
I don't know what's been ailing him but I've been much happier with him in the last month. This is a good opportunity to get him started. He's pretty straight and we're hoping for a big run.

Lizzie Quinlan, trainer of City Derby
We've been waiting to run him as every time I've entered him there's been a deluge of rain and he doesn't want it too soft. It should be fine here, he's in good form and Peter Kavanagh claims 3lb so fingers crossed for a good run.

Susan Corbett, trainer of Les's Legacy
He's in very good form. In my opinion he didn't take to chasing as much as he did to hurdling so we're going back with him. He's versatile as to ground and distance and he has cheekpieces on as he usually makes a couple of mistakes, so we hope they'll help him concentrate a bit more.

Nicky Richards, trainer of Big Bad Bear
He might have needed his first run of the season a bit and he didn't run too badly. He needs the ground a bit better and I hope he'll get that here and run a good race.

Rebecca Menzies, trainer of Lihyan
He has a lovely racing weight. He hasn't been the most straightforward in races but William Maggs settled him and got a great tune out of him last time. There looks to be a bit of pace in the race, which will help. As long as the ground isn't too soft, I'd say he has a great chance. He wouldn't want any more rain.
Reporting by David Carr

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