An easy winner in my Something for the Weekend section last week and I suspect that Legal Attack is a horse to keep on the right side of in the future as well, though as always that statement has to come with the proviso that it really does depend just how highly they aim him over the rest of the season and in to 2021 as well. Before we look at the action over the coming weekend, I can’t get away without a mention at the very least for the recent achievements of Hollie Doyle who rode a five-timer at Windsor last Saturday and proved that to be no fluke with a treble at Yarmouth on Sunday. I may not be the most politically correct person on the planet sometimes, but I have always been a strong advocate of equality if those concerned are good enough and they get the gig based on merit, and Hollie ticks all those boxes. I have never ridden a racehorse but have been told by plenty of trainers that some horses will react more positively to the female touch from the saddle and with her natural talent and undoubted drive I am really hoping she gets more and better rides over the months and years ahead to prove just how good she is. If not, then racing will eventually lose a wonderful talent and ambassador for a sport still seen as male dominated (perhaps correctly), which would be a sin in my eyes for a young lady who rides as well if not better than most of her male contemporaries.
On to the racing…
Superior Mile 1.45pm Haydock
Oh dear. Anyone who has had the “pleasure” of watching Haydock on Thursday and Friday afternoon will be wondering how or even if the turf can cope with a third day, new strips of saved ground or not. As I write it looks like we could be in for a dry spell, but it seems likely to still have the word soft somewhere in the description and that is my assumption as I look at the fields. The eight declared at this stage will no doubt be less by race time just to sink any idea of an each way one two three option, but it was interesting to note there has been just the one three-year-old winner here in the last six years – yet two of the three representing that age group dominate the betting here. Form versus going could be the necessary calculation we need to try and get right here with My Oberon having seen off Khaloosy when runner up to Tilsit on good to firm ground at Goodwood. He as two and a half lengths in hand of his market rival on that form and at the same weights and after just the three career starts may well have more to offer. That said, Khaloosy was sent off odds on that day after hacking up at Royal Ascot in the supposedly competitive Britannia Stakes and it is interesting to see connections have no hesitation in taking oner conqueror once again. The key will hopefully be the going – it was nice and soft when he strolled home at Ascot and may well be very similar on Saturday afternoon – if that is the case I’ll be backing him as the slightly better value option though it is hard to see past the front two in a search for the winner.
Sirenia Stakes 2.00pm Kempton
Not everyone is enamoured with the all-weather surfaces even all these years after their introduction, but the surface is pretty much repeatable meeting on meeting and the better horses and connections are sending more and more horses here year on year. Six furlongs for juveniles here in what looks a tightly matched contest and not one that really sets my pulse racing, though obviously there has to be a winner. Mystery Smiles drops a fraction in class after a solid third at York in the Gimcrack and he will go close if they go hell for leather from the start as I just get the feeling he needs further already and will have to attack late which won’t work off a slower pace. He won’t be far away if the race falls his way, but I think this is far more open that the betting implies with a tricky decision for me to make between Twaasol (who seems sure to go well), and Cloudbridge. Everyone knows I love Godolphin horses (they are always well-bred and beautifully turned out for starters), and the son of Hard Spun out of a Storm Cat mare looked the part on debut when coming home over three lengths clear on his Leicester debut. He failed to follow up in dramatic fashion when last of eight at York when running far too freely to ever have a chance, but they add a hood this afternoon and on breeding I suspect he may well find this surface to be ideal. 8/1 is just too tempting for me with James Doyle in the saddle and if the headgear works, he ought to make it in to the first three home at least.
September Stakes 2.35pm Kempton
Not a betting race I am sorry to say, and thanks to the dreaded covid, not even our last chance to see the great Enable before she bows out on foreign soil in the Arc later in the season. Looking at the seven declared runners it really ought to be a case of Enable first the rest nowhere but of course, she is priced accordingly. Official ratings have her eleven pounds clear of nearest rival Prince Of Arran, she won this on 2018 on her way to winning in Paris, and ought to put these to bed in double quick time under regular pilot Frankie Dettori. However, we do need to remember this is a stepping stone to bigger and better things and she is unlikely to be 100% wound up and at 1/5 I won’t be getting involved financially for a second.
Betfair Sprint Cup Stakes 3.25pm Haydock
Undoubtedly the race of the day by some margin and amazingly, it looks like we might end up with a decent sized field. Hello Youmzain won this last year and is back for second helpings, The Tin Man won in 2018 and is a personal favourite, but they aren’t even guaranteed to dominate the field here. Dream Of Dreams put in a career best last time out when running away with the Group Two Hungerford Stakes at Newbury last month by an amazing seven lengths BUT the runner-up was the 106 rated Breathtaking Look and personally I am less than convinced by the form. He won’t mind the ground as much as some but 11/4 is too short for my liking and I am reluctantly moving on. Hello Youmzain was only three-quarters of a length behind Space Blues in France with Golden Horde back in fifth so he ought to confirm that form (though this is over shorter so who really knows). Tabdeed is remarkably lightly raced for a five-year-old with just the seven starts and looks to be going the right way since being gelded and he came close to becoming an each way suggestion, but in the end I’m going back to my old friend Art Power. He served us well when scoring at Royal Ascot and followed up at Naas though he did disappoint at York when put in his place behind Battaash. He may already be better over this sixth furlong than the fast five that day and as he is reported to be in fine fettle at home, he looks overpriced to me. Trainer Tim Easterby is pretty adamant we didn’t see the horse at his best on the Knavesmire and if that is correct, he should go mighty close on his favoured softer going.
Kentucky Derby 12.01am Sunday Churchill Downs
Not a race I normally include but in a very strange year it still deserves a mention and will attract a huge TV crowd at home in America – even if we don’t really give two hoots over here! Just like Enable’s race I won’t be having a bet at these prices, but Tiz The Law deserves his place at the head of the market as he looks for leg two on his hunt for the triple crown. If he wins all three I still doubt he will ever get the credit he deserves thanks to all the race changes for 2020 but he can do no more than turn up and win when asked, and he has done that four times this year, three of them at Grade One level including the Belmont Stakes in June and the Travers Stakes at Saratoga last time out. Some will tell you the races have gone his way but again that appears to be looking for negatives and barring bad luck in running he ought to win this as well. Honor A P has the form to follow the favourite home and has the help of Mike Smith in the saddle which is invariably a plus, but I really can’t see past the jolly this time around.
Garrowby Stakes 2.00pm York Sunday
Six furlongs await the ten declared runners here who are all aged three or above and in a race won by two favourites in a row courtesy of Limato (4/9) and Dakota Gold (11/8 and back for another go this year), but will the punters come out on top again this afternoon? Once again we have to go through the tricky balancing act of form versus potential and if we are talking about the former, then Jash may come out in top at these weights. Now a four-year-old he has only had the six career starts winning three of them at up to Listed level, and peaking with a half-length second to Ten Sovereigns in the Middle Park Stakes as a juvenile. Admittedly he hasn’t repeated that effort since despite a win at Newmarket, but a wind operation in March followed by a prep run when fourth at Newcastle will hopefully put him spot on. The Crisford horses remain in good sorts (with a 29% strike rate in the last two weeks), though his low draw is anything but a positive. Mums Tipple will win a decent race at a big price and was not passed over lightly I assure you and may come out bet of the three-year-olds, though Starman is the unknown quantity after wins in a Lingfield maiden and a Doncaster novice. Both starts caught the eye with a front running performance followed by a more educational run from off the pace, and if there is a surprise package, he may well be the one as he takes a leap in class for trainer Ed Walker.
Something for the Weekend
I rarely if ever come up with something for a Friday but my friends in the racing press are out in Kentucky ahead of the Derby late at night (see above) as well as the Kentucky Oaks due off at 10.45pm. Donna Velace will go well for Simon Callaghan, son of Neville Callaghan and both of them trainers at Newmarket in their time, but she will need to improve again to get past Gamine. Bob Baffert’s filly is unbeaten after four races (but was disqualified from one at Oaklawn after trace amounts of lidocaine were found in a post-race test. My friends insist she looks more of a colt than a filly and is built like the proverbial outhouse (and that’s the polite version), with muscles on her muscles. She is working well ahead of her most important start with her only real danger fellow front runner Swiss Skydiver who I do not think is as good, but who may force her to go to fast and be there to be picked off late, but if she is as good as she looks, she ought to come home alone.
I rarely have to options here but when you see something you can’t go back and I am sweet on the chances of Shantou Express ahead of the novice hurdle at Stratford on Saturday afternoon. With For Pleasure looking for a hat-trick we might get a half decent price about Kim Bailey’s five-year-old, though I confess, his fitness is a complete unknown. This will be his hurdling debut but he is bred for the task as a son of Shantou and has run some decent races in bumpers for his education. A second at Ludlow was followed by an easy win here at Stratford before a highly respectable third to Israel Champ at Ascot in Listed class with numerous previous winners in behind. Sure to have been well schooled connections will be disappointed if he isn’t a lot better than this class, and even an 80% fitness level may still be enough to see him come home at the head of the pack.
Tired of reading – go to our free to listen to podcast here instead https://postracing.co.uk/2020/09/04/the-longest-podcast-to-date-as-sean-finds-his-voice-again/
Sean’s Suggestions:
Gamine 10.45pm Churchill Downs Friday
Cloudbridge each way 2.00pm Kempton
Shantou Express 2.25pm Stratford Saturday
Art Power each way 3.25pm Haydock Saturday
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