Timeform UK SmartPlays: Saturday October 4

Ask people to name a future Group 1 sprinter running at Ascot on Saturday and most will say Muthmir, who goes in the opener. They're surely right, but we'd give bonus points to those who have also spotted Danzeno's potential. 

Potential mightn't even be the word for it. Danzeno's effort to finish a narrow second at Doncaster last time from a BHA mark of 105 tells us he's already good enough to win the Bengough Stakes (15:15). That was just the latest burst of improvement from Danzeno, who we've pegged as Michael Appleby's breakthrough horse. The best bit about his Doncaster run arguably wasn't the fact he only just failed to give Badr Al Badoor (runs in this race) almost a stone and finished nearly four lengths clear of anything else, but that he pulled so hard in doing so. Dropped back to a bare six furlongs now, Danzeno could well improve if that allows him to settle. It's exciting to think what he could do to this field if that happens.

Despite the stated aim, seeing as they are the very highest standard of race, few Group 1s are decided on merit alone. Some other external factor, from the big considerations of stamina down to keeping a straight line under pressure, invariably comes into play. In the case of the Sun Chariot (15:30 Newmarket), the strong possibility of a muddling pace could prove decisive. Should that happen, it could be Esoterique that's best placed to be the beneficiary of circumstance. She displayed a pretty decisive turn of foot to beat Integral in the Dahlia Stakes back in the spring and has been more consistent since than bare form figures might suggest: last time in the Prix du Moulin, for example, she started too far back to get to the classy males she nonetheless finished close up to. It's possible we haven't seen the very best of Esoterique yet and there is plenty to indicate that this race could bring it to the surface.

We return to Ascot for our final bet, which comes in the last race (17:00). By then we may well know just how unlucky Highland Acclaim was in the Ayr Gold Cup. There's a fair chance that Mission Approved suffered even more, in the far-side group and first home among them, though that was good enough for just sixth overall. He's put up plenty of other creditable efforts this year without winning, but we're putting him up with greater justification than the fact he's due a win. Mission Approved is a strong traveller, which gives him an edge in big fields and also suggests he'll be as good, if not even better, dropped back to five furlongs. In a race that, though competitive, is probably just a little weaker than others he's run in this summer, that could just give him the impetus to gain an overdue success.

Timeform UK SmartPlays

Back Danzeno in the 15:15 Ascot
Back Esoterique in the 15:30 Newmarket
Back Mission Approved in the 17:00 Ascot