Ladbrokes Stakes

Yorkshire trainer Mark Johnston has an excellent record at Glorious Goodwood and it is significant that he abandoned plans to run HADRIAN last weekend and instead opt to run his progressive charge in Thursday's Ladbrokes Stakes, for which the son of King's Best is an 8-1 chance with the sponsors.Johnston is particularly adept at exploiting potentially lenient handicap marks with his up and coming youngsters, and Hadrian definitely fits that mould. He is not the type to win races by wide margins - he's best described as 'workmanlike' - but his style is effective nevertheless, and he's gone up just 7lb for his last two victories, leaving him off a mark of 86.This is put into perspective by Langford, whom Hadrian beat by a neck at Epsom on his penultimate start where the pair were upwards of eight lengths clear of the remainder. Langford won next time out before finishing second to Totesport Mile favourite Cesare at Lingfield, then chasing home another Johnston improver, Sounds Breeze, at Pontefract the other day where he was running off a mark of 90. Hadrian went on to score at Haydock next time, beating in-form, older handicapper's, confirming the impression left at Epsom that a step up to the mile-and-a-quarter trip of the Ladbrokes.com Stakes will bring about further improvement. The only thing we need to hope for now is a bit of luck with the draw. Hadrian likes to race prominently and it will be very much in his favour if he is allocated a high berth.It's not hard to see why Alamiyan is the ante-post favourite for this valuable contest. Sir Michael Stoute has a good record in the middle distance handicaps at this meeting and Alamiyan's form is working out well. The Aga Khan-owned colt dug deep to get the better of Danehill Willy at Pontefract last time, and the latter has scored twice and finished second on his next three starts. A 4lb rise in the weights looks negligible given that he will no doubt have improved further since then and a bold bid looks on the cards.However, at 4-1 there's little in the way of value to be had, plus his come-from-behind style will leave him vulnerable to the traffic problems often experienced in big-field handicaps at the Sussex venue. Another concern regarding Alamiyan is that the only time he encountered an easy surface he disappointed, so the going, which is currently described as good-to-soft, may count against him.In contrast, the Sir Mark Prescott-trained Comic Strip, currently the 6-1 second favourite, will have no problems with cut in the ground. He won on going varying from good, to soft as a juvenile, so there are no worries on that score.The Marju colt progressed rapidly as a two-year-old, a campaign which culminated with victory in a Listed event at Pontefract. But while his handler is as shrewd as they come, I think it's a big ask for Comic Strip to turn out following an absence of 283 days and win a competitive handicap like this under top weight. Babe Maccool and Kharish, first and third respectively at Newmarket last time, both merit respect in what promises to be a furiously competitive contest. But Hadrian ticks all the right boxes and is a confident selection.Betting verdict: 1pt win Hadrian @ 8/1 (Ladbrokes)