Saturday horse racing analysis | Betfair Sprint Cup provides few answers at Haydock

The six-furlong division at Group One level in Britain this year has found no dominant performer, never mind a superstar, and Haydock’s Betfair Sprint Cup offered up few answers in a race where it paid to be drawn low on the far side.

With no previous winner in the contest, and with Group One winners over or around this distance from earlier in the campaign like Khaadem, Mill Stream and Lazzat all missing, the Sprint Cup offered up the chance for a horse to make their top-level breakthrough.

The market was dominated by a horse that had already won at Group One level over the trip this season, though, Inisherin, by virtue of his Commonwealth Cup win, and while the market had an open look to it in the morning, with the Kevin Ryan-trained horse available at 5/1, he was strong in the betting in the half hour before the race and went off 5/2 favourite.

Beaten in all-age company in the July Cup, where he appeared to be outpaced before he stayed on again, he was the first beaten here, going backwards through the field with two furlongs to go, and it’ll be back to the drawing board for him.

For MONTASSIB, however, it was a breakthrough Group One success on his 18th career start, his very first at the top-level, the slow-burning Exceed And Excel gelding coming good at the ages of five and six after coming through the handicap ranks.

Lightly-raced in 2024, this was just his fourth start of the campaign, and given his prowess on softer ground he drifted from antepost odds of 14/1 to a starting price of 25s with conditions drying out to ‘Good’ for the big race.

However, he got a smooth run through the contest under Cieren Fallon, who timed his challenge to perfection on a horse that likes big fields and only just does enough to win his races.

Held up in the early stages towards the rear on the far side, the Irish-trained pair Bucanero Fuerte and Givemethebeatboys took them along down the centre of the track with Fallon biding his time in the rear.

At halfway he began to make his move through the field, latching onto the coat-tails of James Fanshawe’s Kind Of Blue who travelled best of all under Daniel Muscutt.

Inside the final quarter mile Elite Status mounted his challenge towards the stands’ side, but by the final furlong it was apparent that Kind Of Blue and Montassib had it between themselves, the latter finding enough to win by a head.

The first four home were drawn in two, five, six and four, and it appeared to be at an advantage racing on the far-side part of the group, leaving the likes of Elite Status and Swingalong, drawn in 11 and 15 respectively, little chance. That pair probably deserve more credit than finishing positions of seventh and eighth imply.

That’s not to take anything away from Montassib, who has improved significantly since being dropped back to six furlongs and for all that he is a six-year-old this was just his seventh career start at the distance.

The bookies cut him to 6/1 for the QIPCO British Champions Sprint at Ascot next month and no wonder, as the likely softer ground and stiffer track look right in his favour.

With that in mind he’ll have the chance to become the first multiple Group One winner over six furlongs this season, but there isn’t much between about 10 in this division, maybe more, and much will depend on how things pan out at Ascot on the day.

Certainly, connections of the runner-up, Kind Of Blue, will fancy their chances at Ascot. The Blue Point colt might well have to prove himself on softer conditions, but this was just his sixth start and it was a clear career-best.

He travelled kindly and went down fighting to a more experienced horse, but Fanshawe has once again furnished a sprinter to go to war with at the highest level.

Haggas trained the one-three with Unequal Love also travelling kindly as she proved herself adept, once again, in coming to the fore in a big field. The daughter of Dutch Art won the Wokingham at Royal Ascot and she will also go to Champions Day holding leading claims as the Champions Sprint also looks the perfect race for her.

She did her best work at the finish to cut the deficit to three-quarters-of-a-length after having to delay her challenge as she came between Bucanero Fuerte and Kind Of Blue, and while she wasn’t an unlucky loser, her Ascot claims are crystal clear.

Others worthy of a mention include the fourth home Vadream, who ran a cracker at 50/1 on faster ground than ideal, even if she did race on the favoured far side, while Jasour settled better than usual and coasted home after racing away from the action after breaking from stall 13.

Excuses are running out for him, but he’d be interesting if Clive Cox reaches for the headgear granted the right sort of set up.

You can say that for plenty in this division. Today was Montassib’s day, and, while he’ll go to Ascot with a good chance, so will plenty of others. Still we wait for a horse to claim a strong grip on the sprinting crown and, going by this evidence from Haydock, we could be waiting a while yet.

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