English/Ire
James hopes Boiling Point can prove too hot to handle in Winter Derby
Sam James will be hoping to hit the ground running back in England when partnering Boiling Point in the Group 3 Midnite Winter Derby Stakes at Lingfield on Saturday.
Trained by Karl Burke and carrying the colours of the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, Boiling Point will look to emulate his stablemate Royal Champion, who landed the Group 3 all-weather prize twelve months ago and has since gone to top-level success having recently followed up his Bahrain International victory with a power packed performance in Saudi Arabia's Neom Turf.
Sam James, who has recently been in action on the likes of Holloway Boy and Lethal Levi in the Middle East, told Sky Sports Racing: "He was a good winner at Newmarket last year, so I'm very much looking forward to riding him,"
"He obviously hasn't run since then, but he looks like he's going well at home.
Boiling Point took on 22 rivals when winning the Cambridgeshire on the Rowley Mile 147 days ago, but he will only face four when he heads to Lingfield this weekend. However, Sam James is far from concerned about the smaller field.
He added: "I think the ideal plan will be to jump positively and see what happens from there. Hopefully, if he can show what he did at Newmarket he shouldn't be too far away.
"All he did in the Cambridgeshire was stay, they got racing before going down to the dip, so Lingfield is quite a sharp track where you need to have a bit of speed but also need to stay, I'd say he ticks all the boxes that way."
Earlier on the card, James has been booked to partner Karl Burke's high-class Leovanni, who will make her first start as a four-year-old in the colours of Wathnan Racing.
The 2024 Queen Mary heroine was only seen once as a three-year-old when third in the Listed Achilles Stakes at Haydock in May and James hopes she can make an immediate impact on her seasonal reappearance.
"I think they've done a very good job of getting her back," he said. "She was obviously very good at Royal Ascot when she won, she's obviously loads of ability.
"I saw her the other day, and she has strengthened up a hell of a lot from last year to this year, so hopefully, she can make a good account of herself.
"She's a good moving filly so I don't think the all-weather will be any problem, I presume they'll go quickly in it with the likes of Diligent Harry and Amo's (Valiant Force), hopefully she jumps well and we can get a good position."
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