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Haydock handicap the pick of the Sportsbook markets
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Anmaat in line for a return for Rose Of Lancaster
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Alan Dudman spins through Saturday's action on ITV4
The ITV4 cameras are taking in three of the Haydock races this Saturday and the card looks a good one, although the forecast is mixed for the week ahead in the north west. Rain is due on Thursday and Saturday, and it may be prudent to work on the basis of good to soft - or certainly with ease in the ground.
The 14:25 Haydock 1m Handicap looks a super punting race and wide-open too on the antepost Sportsbook market at 6/17.00 the field.
New Image will be on a lot of radars and he's the 6/17.00 favourite for David O'Meara and was a non-runner at Goodwood last week.
He's progressive and steps up to 1m for the first time, and I see that move as a positive, although I was on the wrong side of the horse when he was most unlucky at Thirsk earlier in the season. He met a ton of trouble in that and should have won, but since he's fired in two good efforts at York and most recently Ascot.
Three-year-olds have a fine record in this race in recent seasons and account for half of the victories since 2014 and some of the top yards have entries from that age bracket.
However, in the face of that, and sometimes it's good to go against the crowd, there's a fascinating contender here in the shape of Long Tradition for Saeed bin Suroor.
The 7yo is priced at 10/111.00 on the Sportsbook and his lightly-raced profile seems typical for one from the yard these days - as blink and you'll miss 'em.
Bin Suroor did win this handicap in 2020 with Dubai Mountain - who absolutely hosed up by nearly 5L, and while it is unlikely we'll see a performance of that merit, I think he's a runner at an each-way price.
He won last summer off a 607-day break and scored by 5L, and subsequently ran well in fifth in the John Smith's Cup that year. Although that was a quick back-up run on softer ground than perhaps he cared for.
I'm open-mind with the conditions for the weekend, but a strongly-run mile could suit him, and with him winning fresh before, it might be the time to catch him as he clearly has been a handful to train.
Surprisingly after the John Smith's Cup run (beaten just 3L), he's been dropped 1lb to 90 - and that could be a good mark.
Back Long Tradition in the 14:25 Haydock (Saturday)
The Rose Of Lancaster is the headline race from Haydock and the Group 3 had a good collection of entries on Tuesday at the time of writing.
It promises to cut up, as four of the of last editions of the race has seen just one double-figure field.
Anmaat is a horse I've been waiting to see return, and I will hopefully get my wish on Saturday as a previous winner of the race back in 2022.
He couldn't have been more impressive in this two years ago with a 4L success, and he moved beautifully in the race for an armchair win.
A real stylist is Anmaat.
He hasn't been seen since May 2023, but he's a Group 1 winner in France and a bit of cut in the ground will suit him well - as he seems to travel so comfortably.
His trainer said after his Prix d'Ispahan win last year: "He's pretty laid back about life so he'll never win by a couple of lengths. He doesn't show a huge amount at home but he's bloody tough. The ground was as quick as we'd want to go in today but he doesn't half travel."
Almaqam for Ed Walker is the same price - and considering he was well beaten in the 2,000 Guineas and has just a Listed win to his name, Anmaat has achieved far more.
He was most unlucky to be around at the same time as Baaed, but he's a gelding and not exactly diminishing in terms of form, so it's good to see these older horses keep going.
Indeed, back in his younger days he finished second to Rebel's Romance on his debut. Burrows also has a superb record at Haydock at 28% win and 43% placed.
Back Anmaat in the 15:00 Haydock (Saturday)
A bit of an array of ratings adorn the Listed Dick Hern Stakes, that comes from Haydock on Saturday on ITV at 16:45 - a bonus almost with the Shergar Cup coverage.
It's 4/15.00 the field and and 10 of the 19 entries at the time of writing on Tuesday were rated less than three figures.
Indeed, the top half of the card held the experience, and the bottom half were the unexposed ones with a handful of runs.
Tareefa for William Haggas is one of those from the younger brigade and Haggas has won this three times since 2014.
One of the relations is the Group 1 winner Nezwaah, and I can see the 1m2f really suiting her moving forward, but for now, Haggas is keen on staying at 1m and he's never a trainer to overface his horses.
She won a Newmarket Novice earlier this summer, but the time wasn't great in a steadily run race. However, she stuck in Novice company at Haydock (over C&D) to win easily, and a bit of rain suited her then, as did the 1m.
It does require a big chunk of improvement as she's only rated 89, so the handicapper hasn't been overly impressed with Newmarket and Haydock, but as I often say, fillies can improve greatly at this time of year, and the 7/18.00 looks more than fair.
Back Tareefa in the 16:45 Haydock (Saturday)
O'Brien against Appleby for the Sweet Solera
Another of the "away day" races from Ascot features on in the ITV Saturday bonanza, with the Group 3 Sweet Solera Stakes from Newmarket.
It's less of an attractive punting race if truth be told with Lake Victoria as the 6/42.50 favourite against Charlie Appleby's Mountain Breeze as second fav at 7/42.75.
O'Brien has two at this stage with January also in the entries, but Lake Victoria's debut win at the Curragh has been subsequently boosted with the second that day, Red Letter, coming out to win by 4L.
Mountain Breeze has more experience with four runs already including an unlucky (ish) second at Newmarket in the Duchess Of Cambridge and looks more than ready for the step up to 7f this weekend.
My preference would be for Mountain Breeze, although I am not sure if she'd want rain, and Newmarket's watering seems to be quite keen these days, so we'll hang fire on her for the weekend.
Shergar Cup takes centre stage this weekend from Ascot
All of the races from Ascot on Saturday are priced up on the Sportsbook and the meeting from a viewing stance may not be everyone's cup of tea, but you can't knock the field sizes and the competitive nature of the races.
I am joyous with the news that Jo Mason has been called up to replace Saffie Osborne, as Mason deserves not only to be riding in the big televised races, but also I am amazed that more trainers down south do not use her.
Tactically she is excellent and in terms of numbers, she's on a personal best season. Billy Loughnane also has the call, but with the international jockeys, it's a case of wait and see with the ante-post bets.