By Nick Seddon

Clifford Lee feels that Time To Take Off (10-3) could prove to be one to follow next year, after she made an impressive winning start in the PricedUp EBF Slip Anchor Maiden Stakes over five furlongs at Nottingham on Thursday.

The daughter of Starman was slightly weak in the market at post time but she travelled eye-catchingly well throughout under Lee, before finding plenty to hold off the challenge of the fast-closing Atticum in the closing stages.

James Tate’s charge doesn’t have any fancy entries just yet, but the winning jockey feels that connections could have a nice prospect on their hands.

Speaking after the race, he said: “She feels nice and James was pretty bullish about her. She’s going to be lovely, she did it very professionally and travelled into the race lovely. She got a bit tired towards the end but you’d expect that first time out.

“I said to Phillip Robinson that she feels like she’s got a bit of class around her, so it was a good performance.”

Phillip Robinson, Racing Manager for the winning owner Jaber Abdullah, added: “She’s been working with 80-rated horses and going as well if not better than them, so we thought it would take a decent one to beat her today.

“We were pretty confident, I’d have been surprised if she’d have got beat today. I was a little bit worried about the ground, she wouldn’t have wanted it to have gotten any softer.

“I think she’ll be one for next year. She’s got a nice pedigree and will get further in time, she’s still got a bit of growing to do so she’ll be more of a project.”

The race was part of the PricedUp Grassroots Finals Day at Nottingham, which aims to provide opportunities for horses operating below the highest level to compete for substantial prize money.

And it certainly proved to be a fruitful day for the Eve Johnson Houghton-trained Kesta (5-2 favourite), who showed an excellent attitude to win the £30,000 PricedUp Daily Sports Boosts Grassroots Series Final Nursery Handicap over six furlongs.

Kesta has had a busy campaign so far but he has been productive, showing a good attitude to hold off the attentions of the Jack Channon-trained Who Is Alice for a three quarter length success.

The son of Kessaar cost his connections just £5000 and he has provided an eight-fold return on investment in just 11 career starts, with his third victory of the season taking his earnings above the £40,000 mark.

The winning owners The Woodway 20 were represented on the day by Chris Atkinson and John and Claire Whitworth, who commented: “He’s a superstar, he’s such a tough little thing and so genuine. He’s only a little two-year-old, but that’s 11 runs now and he’s still tough as old boots.

“He cost us £5,000, so he’s paid us back already! That’s Eve though, she buys some good horses at good prices.

“Everything he does now is a bonus and he’s never let us down. He’s taken us to some nice courses along the way too.

“We have two in the syndicate at the moment, the other one has won one race, so it’s great. There’s 20 partners in the syndicate and every year we all own 5% of three two-year-olds and we’ve had a phenomenal record with it.

“We’ve been to Royal Ascot in the past, winning the Windsor Castle Stakes with Chipotle, and they’re all cheap horses relative to the results we’ve had.”

The winning jockey Charles Bishop added: “He’s another cheap purchase that Eve has done well with. He’s not the biggest but he tries exceptionally hard, one day at Windsor he dead heated just because he refused to get beat.

“He travelled into that very well today and he’s extremely genuine. I was very happy to just sit in behind, I was drawn in stall one so I was worried I might get stuck on the wing, but I was able to get a nice run in behind the leaders.”

Meanwhile, the opening PricedUp.Bet EBF Oh So Sharp Maiden Fillies' Stakes was won by the Ralph Beckett-trained Lady Roisia (5-6 favourite), who justified strong market support to win on her second outing.

The daughter of St Mark's Basilica showed a nice attitude to hold off the attentions of the fast-closing Enchanted Queen late on and the winning jockey Hector Crouch feels there could be more to come from her yet.

He said: “It was strong form from Leicester, obviously she was entitled to take a nice step forward. She moved into contention well here today.

“I thought she would go and kick clear but just showed a bit of greenness inside the furlong. She just rolled around a little bit, so she’s value for a little bit more.

“She’s looking at the big screen on the inside and she was left alone out in front with just over two to run, so she’s done well.”

ENDS