Tag: Hillstar

Haydock Saturday Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

At the time of writing, the rain is apparently “pelting down” at Haydock on Friday evening and the going is already good from good to firm. That probably means some testing conditions for Saturday’s card and that means some careful consideration is needed.

It looks a good quality card on Saturday but there are almost certain to be a load of non-runners if the going turns soft. The pick of the form has been achieved on fast ground so it may pay to delve a bit deeper and find horses that will go in softer ground.

The first horse that stands out is Sir Michael Stoute’s Rye House. He obviously has his problems as he is now five years old and this will be only his ninth start. He impressed me when winning at York last season in soft ground but did not reappear for a year. He finished fifth behind the well-handicapped Clever Cookie but did not have his conditions next time at Newmarket. He could start at a lot shorter than 6-1 if the going continues to deteriorate.

Nabucco is a horse that I have followed since early in his three-year-old career. He is tough and consistent but does not like fast ground. All things considered, it was a decent run to finish third to Amralah at Newbury last month on good ground. He absolutely hacked up in heavy ground at Salisbury last season and he could get a Group 3 success in the Rose Of Lancaster Stakes tomorrow.

Hillstar did not look entirely happy on this sort of ground at Chester in May and I’ve never really been entirely convinced by him. True Story looks overrated and Nabucco can gain revenge on Amralah.

There are some interesting races later in the day, notably the Listed Fillies’ Stakes at 3.25. I am tempted to support Psychometry here but there is no real evidence that she likes soft ground. She was third at Goodwood behind Marsh Daisy but was well beaten. It was her eye-catching run at Ascot that makes her worth keeping an eye on. She never had an inch of space and yet managed to finish full of running within four lengths of the winner. She has a decent race in her, I’m just not sure that it will be tomorrow. Each-way might be the way to go.

Rye House 2.20 Haydock at 6-1 Bet365

Nabucco 2.55 Haydock at 8-1 BetVictor

Psychometry 3.25 Haydock at 10-1 BetVictor (each-way)

Goodwood Friday Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Friday’s Goodwood card opens up with the return to action of 2012 St Leger winner Encke. The 25-1 winner put paid to Camelot’s Triple Crown hopes but has not been able to race since owing to a failed drug test. He has reportedly been working well over a mile but would prefer a bit of cut in the ground and will surely be a little rusty on his comeback.

The same cannot be said of Sir Michael Stoute’s Hillstar who will be  having his fifth start of the campaign and has finished runner-up in the last three. He seemed to do nothing wrong behind Cavalryman last time at Newmarket and renews rivalry with Pether’s Moon who finished just behind him. Ryan Moore can make sure that the Stoute bandwagon keeps rolling.

The second race pitches classic form against a mixture of promising handicappers and a real dark horse from Godolphin. The famous blue silks were notable by the absence in the winner’s enclosure at the start of the week but Rapprochement looks an exciting recruit.

He wore a hood on his debut and had the rest of the field beaten fully three furlongs out, eventually winning by 11 lengths. Of course, they could all turn out to be useless but it will be fascinating to see how he copes with the likes of Shifting Power and Lightning Thunder. John Gosden’s Wannabe Yours won by nine lengths off a mark of 84 and has been put up to an official mark of 100 so he too could be in the shake-up.

The Betfred Mile has seldom been kind to me over the years. It all goes back to a “handicap good thing” of Sir Michael Stoute’s called Desert Dirham who tried to overcome a wide draw and was just about on the floor in the home straight. I also followed Stoute’s Safawan throughout his career and inexplicably didn’t back him off a light weight when he won here.

I cannot see any Safawan’s amongst this lot but the Epsom form between Velox and Red Avenger is interesting. Both were knocked sideways by Abseil’s failure to negotiate the camber and they have good draws here. Velox has since won for the in-form Luca Cumani at Sandown while Red Avenger has done not a lot. Back them both to be on the safe side.

Hillstar 1.55 Goodwood Friday @9-4 BetVictor

Rapprochement 2.30 Goodwood Friday @6-1 BetVictor

Velox 3.05 Goodwood Friday @7-1 Bet365

Red Avenger 3.05 Goodwood Friday @25-1 BetVictor (each-way)