'He's in the form of his life so why not go for it?'

Middleham Park Racing director Tim Palin reports Red Zone Hero in the "form of his life" and believes there is nothing to lose after the colt was supplemented for the Group 2 Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes (3.15) at Newbury on Saturday.

Trained by Michael Bell, the juvenile recorded a second win from five starts at Doncaster on Friday, prompting connections to pay the £5,000 fee to add him to the Mill Reef at the five-day stage.

Both wins have been on soft ground and Palin is confident Red Zone Hero will be a serious contender if he gets his ideal conditions in the £90,000 contest.

Palin said: "The option was to go somewhere under a penalty, but because of the weather forecast this week the ground at Newbury could be very testing. He seems to revel in those conditions, is in the form of his life and is on the improve.

"We spoke to Michael to make sure he was happy with the horse. If something suggested he wasn't ready to go back into battle, we weren't going to run but our intention was to go for it."

Red Zone Hero is one of 14 in contention for the Group 2, with George Scott's Seven Questions and the John and Thady Gosden-trained Eben Shaddad also supplemented.

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Group winners Haatem, Lake Forest and Elite Status are in the entries, with Red Zone Hero a 25-1 shot with Coral, but Palin believes softer ground may reduce the numbers.

He said: "It looks a wide-open race and one or two at the head of the ratings have entries in the Middle Park and Dewhurst. If this race is going to be run on very soft ground I suspect they might not want to race this close to those.

"We could envisage the race cutting up a little bit, so that's our methodology."

Although Red Zone Hero has competed only in maiden and nursery races, Palin is hopeful he can make the step up.

He said: "There's an element of thinking whether he's really earned his stripes, and you could put a question mark next to that having won off 79, but he's going to be in the 90s on Tuesday when the handicapper reassesses him.

"If you have an improving horse who is rated in the 90s and should love the ground, why not go for it?

"We made some bold decisions with The Platinum Queen last year and they tended to pay off. Even if he doesn't get the job done, we'll get our money back if he finishes fourth. It's not all about winning, it's about enhancing his CV.

"It might look on Saturday night that we've gone a bridge too far, but he's in the form of his life, keeps improving and should relish the ground."

Coral: 3-1 Elite Status, 4 Lake Forest, 5 Eben Shaddad, Mister Sketch, 7 Haatem, 8 Array, 10 Seven Questions, 14 Sketch, 16 Matters Most, 20 Serene Seraph, 25 Red Zone Hero, 28 Spanish Phoenix, 33 Hala Emaraaty, 50 Roman Emperor

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