Seeker team wary of deluge

Connections of New Seeker are keeping an eye on the ground and the opposition before choosing from two engagements in the next week.

The Paul Cole-trained gelding, owned by the Elite Racing Club, holds entries in the Betfred Spring Trophy over seven furlongs at Haydock on Saturday and the VC Casino.com Stakes over an extended mile at Windsor on Monday.

“We will see what’s likely to run and what rain we get through the week,” said Elite’s racing manager Matthew Budden.

“He is a horse that doesn’t like too much give in the ground. That has been a problem but we will keep an eye on it and also see what is likely to run.

“Seven furlongs is probably his best trip but if Monday’s race looks a bit weaker then he might go for that instead.”

The seven-year-old has posted three Listed victories from eight career triumphs that have helped him amass £390,000 in prize money after he made a victorious reappearance at Leicester last month.

“We were delighted with his first run of the season and we’ll keep popping away at those sort of races for the time being,” added Budden.

“He’s won two out of three for Paul Cole so far. He’s a good horse at Listed level and hopefully we’ll carry on having a bit of fun with him.

“He might try a Group Three again as we get into the summer when there are more of those races.”

A likely runner for Elite on Haydock’s mixed card on Saturday is Penzance in the £75,000 Betfred Swinton Handicap Hurdle.

The six-year-old, trained by Alan King, enjoyed his first success over hurdles since the 2004 Triumph Hurdle when dead-heating with Arcalis at Sandown recently.

Budden said: “Alan was going to give him a spin today and see how he was but I think the plan is to go there as long as he is happy with the horse.

“We were delighted with his run at Sandown to get him back over winning form over hurdles.

“The blinkers seemed to help him a lot and he stuck his neck out really well.”