Saturday Racing: Expert panel | Horses to follow and tips for Newbury, Curragh and more

It’s a quiet racing weekend in the UK, can you find an angle into the Weatherbys Super Sprint?

Matt Brocklebank: To be perfectly honest, I love having a bet in the Super Sprint as it’s just one of those races that’s open to chaos.

That shouldn’t really be the case in theory given it’s such a fair, flat five furlongs (and 34 yards) at Newbury, but we’ve seen half a dozen winners with an SP of 14/1 or bigger since 2008 so it’s clearly not just a case of picking the highly-rated juveniles who performed with credit at the Royal meeting.

A very low draw has proved to be a negative over the years so that’s often a reasonable angle into the race, although I see most of the well-fancied runners have high numbers this year so that may not help us.

At the start of the week I pinned down a three-strong shortlist and Oisin Murphy has since been booked to ride one of those horses (Beenham) so Rod Millman’s Havana Grey filly remains of serious interest as I just think she hated the rattling-quick ground at York last time out in May.

David Ord: Relief Rally sets the standard on her second in the Queen Mary but she doesn’t have bundles in hand of Juniper Berry on these revised terms. The latter’s stablemate Bobsleigh is another who hasn’t been missed in the market and better value might lie elsewhere.

Rod Millman's horses are always worth a second look in this type of contest and his Beenham is high in my thinking.

Ben Linfoot: William Haggas’ filly Relief Rally has very obvious form claims but I always think you’ve got a chance in this race and I will take her on. She is the best horse in the race on all the evidence we’ve seen so far, but that is fairly limited and two-year-olds can make big leaps of improvement at this time of year especially in a unique race like this one.

Indeed, horses rated north of 100 that got beat in this race include Ventura Rebel (5/4), Chipotle (15/8), Vintage Clarets (3/1) and Hototo (5/1). History says you want to challenge from the middle to the stands’ side so I’ll bear the high numbers in mind and I’ll be having a good look through the video form and pedigrees before Friday’s selection.

Andrew Asquith: It isn’t a race I generally get involved with but if there is a horse in there who is likely better than he has shown so far then I think it’s The Camden Colt.

He is a big two-year-old (very much takes the eye) who was very inexperienced on his debut, but proved much better for that experience when opening his account at the second attempt at Haydock. That race has worked out incredibly well and The Camden Colt has had excuses in two of his three starts since – he was out of his depth in the Coventry in between – and a straight five furlongs in a race which is usually strongly run should be perfect for him.

Add into it that Richard Hannon has an excellent record in the race and William Buick rides for the first time then I think he will run a big race off top weight at what should be a decent price.

Are you for or against Lezoo dropping in grade in the Group 2 Hackwood Stakes?

Ben Linfoot: She’s going to be relatively short in the market dropping in grade with Frankie Dettori on board so my natural instinct is to take her on. In the 1000 Guineas she had excuses but less so in the Commonwealth Cup and we are still to see evidence that she has trained on.

On top of that she’s taking on a mixture of in-form and improving sprinters here, for all that all of them have to give Ralph Beckett’s filly weight. With that in mind if she can rediscover her best juvenile form she should win this, but it’s a big enough ‘if’ to have a go against her.

Andrew Asquith: It looks a good move in my eyes. Yes, she was a Group 1 winner as a juvenile, but she isn’t the biggest, and from what we have seen so far this season she it doesn’t look like she’s trained on.

Admittedly, she failed to stay in the 1000 Guineas, but she went off 5/1 for the Commonwealth Cup and fared no better, for all she was drawn away from the main action.

Lezoo now takes on her elders for the first time but they are all hardened sprinters and, though she is entitled to find this a little easier, she doesn’t appeal whatsoever as a bet to me.

Matt Brocklebank: I backed Lezoo antepost for the Commonwealth Cup but would have to be treading carefully with her now after she didn’t show too much promise again at Ascot.

Her juvenile form is superb but it’s not happened for her in two starts this time around and if she’s not sparking by mid-to-late July then they may well be fighting a bit of a losing battle when it comes to getting her three-year-old campaign back on track.

If there’s a youngster to put it up to the older brigade in the Hackwood then it might be Cold Case who I know Karl Burke has a lot of faith in. He has at least shown that he’s trained on when winning the Commonwealth Cup Trial earlier in the year and I can excuse the subsequent effort on lively conditions at Haydock. He’s been given time to recover from that and could yet make the grade (he’s 25/1 for the Haydock Sprint Cup at the time of writing).

David Ord: Against. Yes, she’s down in class and was drawn away from the main action in the Commonwealth Cup but she still didn’t show enough to suggest she was one to side with next time.

Her two-year-old form is strong but others arrive here right at the top of their game and she’s thrown in against some seasoned gunslingers. She’ll need to be right back on song to go close.

Give us a handicapper to look out for in the UK on Saturday?

David Ord: I hope ROWAYEH is worth the wait in the finale at Newbury. She’s always been held in high regard by the Owen Burrows team and the well-bred daughter of Dubawi is getting her act together now.

She’s won her last two including a decent handicap at Sandown last time, strong at the finish to beat Mystic Pearl by a widening length-and-a-quarter. She’s up five pounds but there looks to be plenty more to come and I’d be surprised if she’s not competitive again on Saturday.

Ben Linfoot: ONE NATION finished last in the Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot but it was his first run for four months and he was eased down once his chance had gone so a line is put through the run.

A month on he should be in a better place to challenge in the mile handicap at Newmarket (3.40) and Charlie Appleby has found a good spot for him getting 8lb from his elders at a course where he hosed up as a juvenile.

Andrew Asquith: There is a competitive two-mile handicap at Newbury and NOVEL LEGEND is a horse I’m keen to keep on the right side.

He has always appealed as the type to make a better four-year-old and he built on his winning return when following up in most impressive style over course and distance in April. He finished runner-up to a completely unexposed one in the consolation race for the Chester Cup next time but turned that form around when also shaping better than the bare result in the Ascot Stakes last time.

That race wasn’t truly run which didn’t suit Novel Legend but he finished well from an unpromising position and is almost certainly still on a good mark. The longer straight at Newbury will allow him more time to hit full stride and he is a stayer to keep on the right side in my opinion.

Matt Brocklebank: He’s not getting any younger but I’ve been on the lookout for ANOTHER BATT returning to a mile after a couple of relatively low-key runs over seven furlongs during May resulted in his handicap mark easing 4lb (in total).

He was due to resume at Doncaster last Thursday but the rain didn’t arrive and he was a non-runner after being quite well backed overnight. There are plenty of showers forecast at Ripon heading into the weekend and it’s a course at which Another Batt has been successful in the past.

Stall six looks perfectly decent around the mile there and the cherry on top is the booking of Ben Curtis who has a tidy 24% strike-rate (10-42) for the Barron yard over the years.

Is Savethelastdance a banker or blowout in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks?

Andrew Asquith: The ground at the Curragh at the time of writing is soft, yielding to soft in places, which is very much in the favour of Savethelastdance.

She was beaten only by a speedier rival at Epsom under much quicker conditions, but she was far from disgraced, and her demolition job at Chester in testing conditions is still fresh in the memory.

It doesn’t look the deepest renewal of the Irish Oaks and, given she has had a nice break since, for my money she will take all the beating on ground which won’t be as fast as what she encountered at Epsom.

Matt Brocklebank: I can’t pretend to be desperate to take on the favourite in the Irish Oaks, nor will I be backing her at a short price.

It does surprise me how often Aidan O’Brien’s Oaks fillies can improve for a run having been given a short break after Epsom so perhaps that’s something to cling to if opposing her, but the trainer is hardly going to have left her a gallop short for the Curragh.

The Yorkshire Oaks and the Arc look legitimate potential targets at this stage for Savethelastdance and she should probably be winning this en route, especially if the ground comes up soft which looks highly likely given the forecast.

David Ord: Banker. I thought she’d win the Betfred Oaks at Epsom but she looked ill-at-ease on the track on the quick ground and will be a different proposition on home turf and with plenty of rain around.

This looks a good chance to claim a first Group One and she’d be high on my shortlist for the St Leger too.

Ben Linfoot: I’m going to say blowout. At 5/4 against improvers like stablemate Warm Heart and the Camelot filly Bluestocking I just couldn’t back her at short prices, even if conditions have turned in her favour.

The race has held up pretty well considering Aidan O’Brien dominated the five-day entries and this race hasn’t been dominated by the master of Ballydoyle in recent years – he’s won just one of the last six renewals.

Three of those went to the English raiders and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ralph Beckett’s Bluestocking improve significantly on the softest ground she’ll have ever faced.

It’s shaping up to be a terrific King George on Saturday week, who do you most want to see amongst the final entries?

David Ord: I could be flippant and say Auguste Rodin because the rematch with King Of Steel is a mouthwatering prospect – but I’ve been very sweet on Hukum for this since his reappearance win in the Brigadier Gerard.

I thought he was value for much more than the half-length he had in hand of Desert Crown there having conceded first run and he went through that race like an improved performer. The weather forecast suggests he’s going to get his ground next weekend and he shouldn’t be underestimated.

Ben Linfoot: It looks like at least one of the Derby one-two, Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel, are going to turn up and we might even have an Epsom rematch.

It’s an enticing prospect but they need a top-class older horse to test themselves against and while there are a few in there pitching I would love to see the 2022 Epsom hero Desert Crown strutting his stuff. He was a little below-par on his reappearance at Sandown but he could still be the older horse we’re all talking about come the autumn.

Andrew Asquith: There were some positive updates for Desert Crown and Pyledriver on Wednesday and, while the latter will more than likely show up, I’m really keen to see Desert Crown again, particularly back over a mile and a half. He has ground to make up with Hukum, but he was so visually impressive in the Derby last year, you have to think he is capable of better.

The betting is dominated by three-year-olds Auguste Rodin and King of Steel who also look very interesting. King of Steel has to be one of the biggest horses in training but he did it so easy at Royal Ascot, you would have to think he has strong claims of reversing Derby form with Auguste Rodin, who wasn’t all that impressive in the Irish version last time.

So for me, it would have to be King of Steel, a course and distance winner who still appeared to be learning on the job last time. He could be capable of much better still and I’m hoping he can land a first Group 1 success.

Matt Brocklebank: Luxembourg! I reckon he’s crying out for a mile and a half around Ascot and especially if there’s still plenty of rain around in a week’s time.

I still can’t quite get my head around the O’Brien running plans but I half-assumed Auguste Rodin would be geared towards a drop back to 10 furlongs at York and Leopardstown before tackling a mile and a half again at Longchamp in October.

We’ll see how that all plays out before recommending another bet, but I can certainly see the case for Hukum who was still 8/1 just a few days ago which looked more than fair.

Simca Mille would be the other older horse to note at a bigger price as the overseas runners are often overlooked in the King George and this one brings a solid level of form from France, where the middle-distance horses look well up to scratch on the whole this season.

More from Sporting Life

• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org