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19:00 Southwell (AW) Sat 03 Oct 2026 0m7f15y Class 4 Good 11 runners

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Mr Fox’s call

Imperial Ballet silks

Imperial Ballet

MEDIUM Advised 3/1 Est. 42%

5TH

Mr Fox says

Imperial Ballet (SR 155, 3/1) is emphatically the class standout in this field — a 10-point SR gap over the next best (Big Money, SR 145) is decisive at Class 4 level. The sole concern is 401 days off, but Andrew Balding (18% career strike rate, 3040 runners — one of the shrewdest yards for returning horses) and a winning debut form of '1' suggest a horse sent off fit and ready. The 3/1 market price is fair given the layoff, but Balding's yard does not waste entries on an unfit animal after more than a year away. Rob Hornby (12% strike rate) is a capable booking consistent with the yard deploying a serious runner, and the equal weight (9-7) imposes no penalty versus the mid-range opposition. Each-way alternative: Big Money. Main danger: Big Money — Big Money (SR 145, 8/1) carries 2lb less than Imperial Ballet, has Michael Appleby — a capable all-weather handler (13% strike rate, 1714 runners) — and despite 311 days off, the SR of 145 is genuinely second-best in the field, meaning a forward return could bring Imperial Ballet closer than the market gap implies.

Verify· #21331

Full result

Winner: Cloud Forest (GB) at SP 1/1F. Mr Fox’s picks highlighted in gold.

  1. 1 Cloud Forest silks Cloud Forest Saeed bin Suroor · William Carson 10/11
  2. 2 Big Money silks Big Money Fox #2 Michael Appleby · Andrew Mullen 7/1
  3. 3 All You Can Be silks All You Can Be Fox #3 Charles Hills · Dougie Costello 9/1
  4. 4 Hozam silks Hozam Kevin & Lauren Frost · Joe Leavy 8/1
  5. 5 Imperial Ballet silks Imperial Ballet Fox #1 Andrew Balding · Rob Hornby 11/4
  6. 6 Skewsby silks Skewsby Michael & David Easterby · Billy Garritty 22/1
  7. 7 Pseudonym silks Pseudonym Ollie Sangster · Sean Dylan Bowen 50/1
  8. 8 Secret Message silks Secret Message Nick Littmoden · Darragh Keenan 125/1
  9. 9 Talking Bear silks Talking Bear Richard Phillips · Jonny Peate 40/1
  10. 10 Ze Gucci Poochie silks Ze Gucci Poochie Martin Dunne · Muhammet Talha Ertal(7) 100/1
  11. 11 Manjaros Express silks Manjaros Express Martin Dunne · Alice Bond(5) 66/1

Top 4 — how each finished

  1. 1 Imperial Ballet silks Imperial Ballet 3/1 5TH
  2. 2 Big Money silks Big Money 8/1 🥈 2ND
  3. 3 All You Can Be silks All You Can Be 11/1 🥉 3RD