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Free horse racing tips: Best Bets for Haydock on Saturday
Andrew Asquith enjoyed a good week at Glorious Goodwood and is back in his usual slot with one bet at Haydock this weekend.
Weekend View: Saturday August 10
1pt win Rainbows Edge in the 4.45 Haydock at 8/1 (General)
It is a tricky week for this column as the majority of races that have been priced up are those in the Shergar Cup at Ascot. Each race has a maximum field of 10 as well as reserves and, with no jockeys pencilled in at this stage, picking bets out at this time isn’t easy. Therefore, I’m happy to concentrate on the action at Haydock.
Haydock received 18mm of rain last week but with hot temperatures throughout the weekend the ground is currently good, good to firm in places. There is the possibility of up to 10mm on Thursday which will put more moisture into the ground so hopefully it will be a perfect racing surface on Saturday, especially given races on Saturday will be run on the outer track (Friday on the inner track).
The Rose of Lancaster Stakes is potentially a very good renewal with Anmaat set to make his seasonal reappearance. He showed high-class form when winning this race in 2022 and he was last seen winning the Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan at Longchamp in May last year.
He can also boast a terrific record when fresh and, given he doesn’t have to carry a penalty for his Group 1 success, he stands out a mile on form. However, I’m not one for backing horses at around the 11/4 mark this early in the week, so I’m happy to pass him over as a bet at this stage.
Later on the card is the Dick Hern Stakes and I’m expecting a three-year-old to take a big step forward. The horse in question is RAINBOWS EDGE, an unbeaten filly who represents John & Thady Gosden that we almost certainly are yet to see the best of.
She is from a very good family – her dam won the Albany Stakes and Cherry Hinton Stakes as a juvenile – and Rainbows Edge created an excellent impression when making a winning debut at Newcastle in March, overcoming clear signs of greenness to get the better of a next-time-out winner who had the benefit of experience.
That form on the whole has worked out well and Rainbows Edge confirmed that promise and more when following up under a penalty at Newmarket at the end on June. That was her first run for three months and she beat a good-looking field with plenty in hand, moving into the race nicely and finding plenty in the closing stages despite still looking a little rough around the edges when initially hitting the front.
The bare form of that contest is nothing to write home about, but the manner in which she put the race to bed marks her out as a smart prospect, and there should still be plenty more to come after just two starts which were three months apart.
Interestingly, Rainbows Edge has only been given a mark of 88 by the BHA handicapper, but it shows the regard in which she’s seemingly held that connections are opting for much deeper races, and she represents a yard that have had plenty of success by boldly placing similar types in the past.
Older horses have dominated the Rose of Lancaster Stakes in more recent years, but three-year-olds have been successful seven times since 2010, and I think the 8/1 about Rainbows Edge is fair, as I can definitely see her shortening as the race draws closer. This is her only entry and Kieran Shoemark has been booked, so she looks an intended runner at this stage.
The Sweet Solera Stakes at Newmarket is another race I’ve found it hard to get an angle on as it was hard not to be impressed by Lake Victoria when making a winning debut at the Curragh. If Aidan O’Brien decides to run her here then she will surely take a bit of beating, and it is hard to think that the horses in behind who I like the look of, namely Elsie’s Ruan and Dream Voyage, won’t be the same price if not bigger on the day.
Preview posted 1505 BST 06/08/24
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