Saturday’s ITV Racing Tips – Haydock Sprint Cup Metting, Ascot and Kempton
The Sprint Cup at Haydock is the feature race of Saturday’s ITV Racing schedule and the favourite looks hard to beat on his prefered surface.
There are a further three races from Haydock as well as two races from Kempton and two from Ascot. Henry has previewed all the races below and given his betting tip for each of them.
1:45 Haydock
The first race live on ITV is the Group 3 Superior Mile Stakes. A small field of 5 runners with globetrotter Lord Glitters heading the market at 6/4.
My selection is MY OBERON (11/4). I think this race is likely to be slowly run and will prove to be a tactical affair and that won’t suit Lord Glitters. My Oberon won a similar race at the start of the season when winning the Earl Of Sefton Stakes and he can add another Group 3 to his CV here. He ran a cracker in the Group 1 Prince Of Wales Stakes finishing 4th there and he can bounce back from a poor run last time out here in what appears to be the weakest race he’s ran in for a while.
2:05 Kempton
The 2:05 from Kempton is another Group 3, the Sirenia Stakes over 6f for 2 year-olds.
The one I like is WINGS OF WAR NB (7/2) for the Clive Cox team. I just think he’s got the best form in the race and he’s still improving with each run. That 3rd last time out at York in a valuable sales race was a cracking run where he was only just touched off. He can build on that and take this Group 3 here.
2:20 Haydock
The 2:20 race from Haydock is a tricky handicap for punters to get stuck into over the 1m6f trip.
My selection here is CONTACT EW (12/1). He has shown strong consistent form throughout the season and he will appreciate the return to faster ground here after his last two starts were on softer than ideal ground. He likes to be held up off the pace and given the fact there appears to be plenty of place on here, this race should be ran to suit. Ray Dawson takes over the reigns which is a positive as last time out he was given far too much to do on Shergar Cup day. He’s a value selection here.
2:40 Kempton
The September Stakes is next up, a Group 3 race ran over 1m4f.
I expect HUKUM (8/11) to win this and win it well. He’s the best horse in the race and he’s the quickest horse in the race. They’ll likely go pretty steady and he can utilise his decent turn of foot and do his market rivals for toe. Hamish is a horse I like but I don’t think the race will be ran to suit him as he is a strong stayer at this trip and would prefer a faster run race.
2:55 Haydock
The 2:55 from Haydock is possibly the toughest puzzle to solve on Saturday. It is the Old Borough Handicap over 1m6f.
The one for me is RAJINSKY NAP (15/2). He ran a cracker last time out finishing second behind an unexposed well handicapped horse down at York. There doesn’t appear to be much pace on here and he certainly won’t mind going forward if no one else wants too. Trainer Tom
Dascombe and Jockey Richard Kingscote have a fantastic record here at Haydock and they can hopefully have another winner here at a nice price.
3:10 Ascot
The 3:10 race from Ascot is the Lavazza Stakes ran over 1m4f. It is a Class 2 handicap and Wahraan heads the market after his eye-catching run last time out.
However, I prefer the chances of CHAMPAGNE PIAFFE (7/1) here for the shrewd Gary Moore operation. I was really taken by his victory last time out at Windsor where he won well and gave the impression he was a horse on the upgrade. He’s only up 5lb for that win and I think this step up in trip could squeeze out more improvement too. He’s again a very good value selection here.
3:30 Haydock
The feature on the day comes up at 3:30 and it is the Group 1 Sprint Cup Stakes over 6f.
I find it impossible to overlook STARMAN (10/11) here. He’s the best horse in the world over 6f for me on quick ground and that’s exactly what he gets today. He holds his market rivals on form given the fact he beat them in the July Cup over 6f and I see no reason how they can reverse that form today. The ground will be even quicker today and he’ll just bounce off it. Double him with HUKUM.
3:45 Ascot
The finale on ITV comes up at 3:45 and it is a wide open 7f handicap to end proceedings.
The one I’ve landed on is MYSTERY SMILES (9/1). He’s been operating at a much higher level than this type of race in recent times and I think he’s capable of winning a race of this nature off a mark of 102. Although he finished last of 6 last time out, that doesn’t tell half the story. He was very very slowly away and gave up several lengths there. However, he flew home there and managed to get within 4l of the winner. The winner of that race Guru is well thought of and I’m sure he’d be a very short priced favourite if he was lining up in a race like this. Therefore, I’m happy to chance Mystery Smiles in the hope that he breaks from the stalls a lot better than he did last time out.
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