Atrium on target for Lincoln at Doncaster as Charlie Fellowes reveals four-year-old ‘in good order’ | Racing News

Charlie Fellowes is looking to get the Flat season off to a flying start as Atrium takes aim at the Lincoln on the opening day of the campaign.

The four-year-old looked to be on the up last season, hitting his stride in a series of one-mile handicaps and signing off at the end of the term with back-to-back wins at Newbury and then Doncaster.

The latter success, a half-length triumph at the St Leger meeting, was against a field of 15 rivals over the Lincoln distance.

The big handicap on April 1, which will be live on Sky Sports Racing, is therefore naturally the Highclere-owned gelding’s immediate target, a race for which he is presently a 12/1 shot off a rating of 100.

“He’s really well, this has been the plan for a very long time,” Fellowes said.

“We wanted to run him in the Balmoral at the end of last year but he just missed out so we took the decision to call it a day, protect his handicap mark and aim for the Lincoln first thing this year. He won over course and distance so it seemed a very obvious move.

“He’s in good order at home, he worked on the grass on Saturday and looked great. He’s got another big piece of work to go and that should put him spot on for Saturday week.

“He’s not a difficult horse to get fit, he’s not a big, gross horse, he’s a light-framed horse and he’s not one that’s going to need a run or a racecourse gallop or anything like that.

“He keeps himself very fit at home anyway. I’m very happy with where he is and we’re really looking forward to it.”

Ascot sprint a possibility for Marbaan

Fellowes is also formulating plans for Vintage Stakes winner Marbaan.

That victory came over seven furlongs, but two beaten runs at the latter end of the term have caused the trainer to ponder a return to a sprint distance of six furlongs.

Although a Guineas entry has been made and could still be pursued, Fellowes is expecting the Oasis Dream colt to instead drop back in trip and is thinking of races like the Pavilion Stakes at Ascot as a first port of call.

He said: “Marbaan is good, he looks really well and he’s done well over the winter. He’s not a small horse and what he did last year was very good because he’s quite a big boy, not massive but definitely not small.

“We’re in no rush because there’s nothing much for him, he’s in the Guineas but we put him in that just in case and I don’t think he’s really a Guineas horse.

“I’m hoping that we actually end up coming back to sprinting, I just felt, especially in Ireland (sixth in the National Stakes), he finished his races very tamely.

“We had the Greenham pencilled in for him as possible starting point, but I think we could end up starting with something like the Pavilion at Ascot and see where we go from there.”

Watch all the action from Doncaster’s Lincoln meeting and the Pavilion Stakes at Ascot live on Sky Sports Racing.