Timeform Daily View | Thursday preview and tips
John Ingles of Timeform provides an overview of the key things to note for Thursday's racing.
Tip of the Day
Giselles Izzy – 20:45 Hamilton
Flags: Horse In Focus, Horses For Courses
Iain Jardine’s sprinting mare Giselles Izzy has a fine record at Hamilton and she can notch a fourth win at the track. Both her wins last season came over this six furlongs, including in this very race, and her only start at Hamilton so far this season, in May, was also a successful one when she got up late over five furlongs to snatch a head victory. Giselles Izzy is already back on the mark she won from last month and she very much caught the eye at Thirsk last time when running on into a never-dangerous eighth on a day when a tailwind meant it proved hard to come from off the pace on the sprint course.
Long journey north can pay off for Mutamanni at Hamilton
Newmarket trainer George Boughey doesn’t send many of his horses on the long journey to Hamilton but, with five winners and seven placed horses from his 14 runners at the Scottish track since 2019, it’s often proved a worthwhile trip.
With the yard in good form and among the winners at Royal Ascot last week, Boughey’s sole runner at Hamilton is the hat-trick-seeking Mutamanni in the card’s most valuable event, a five-furlong handicap (19:15). The Shadwell-owned three-year-old has looked all speed, dropping to the minimum trip for the first time to get off the mark in a maiden at Brighton at the beginning of the month and making all again when following up on his handicap debut at Leicester 12 days later.
Mutamanni has improved with each run so far and as such should be able to defy a 5 lb rise in the weights and complete his hat-trick.
Three points of interest
Haggas and Bowen an interesting combination at Newcastle
Those with longer memories may recall Newcastle’s Seaton Delaval Stakes as a Group 3 contest for two-year-olds but these days it’s a mile handicap for older horses (16:10) and the highlight of the first day of the track’s three-day meeting which culminates in Saturday’s Northumberland Plate.
William Haggas won last year’s Seaton Delaval with Lattam who’s bidding for a repeat success this year but for a different trainer, now being with Julie Camacho. However, the in-form Haggas can take this again with another lightly-raced four-year-old Elnajjm who has a very similar profile to his stable’s 2023 winner. Elnajjm was narrowly beaten by now smart performers Alsakib and Jeff Koons before landing the odds in a maiden at Lingfield on his final start last year and, with that form looking strong, he’s on a potentially lenient mark for his first handicap.
Although a pound out of the weights, Elnajjm is 3 lb clear on Timeform ratings with a ‘p’ indicating further improvement to come. He has an interesting jockey booking too, with 5 lb claimer Sean Dylan Bowen, who has been making a name for himself since relocating from Ireland in the spring, having his first ride for the Haggas yard.
Veydari another Wathnan breeze-up purchase to note
Qatari owners Wathnan Racing had a quick return on some big-money purchases at the breeze-up sales this spring when Shareholder and Leovanni were successful at Royal Ascot last week in the Norfolk Stakes and Queen Mary Stakes respectively.
Perhaps Veydari would have been in his owners’ Royal Ascot team himself had he justified the strong support that came for him when he made his debut for Richard Fahey in a novice at Haydock earlier this month. As it was, Veydari, who comes from a very successful Aga Khan family and was bought for 200,000 guineas in April, left the impression he’d be sharper for the run in finishing sixth behind another newcomer, Dubai Bling, in what was a competitive novice. He showed plenty of promise, though, making much of the running despite jumping a path early on, before weakening in the final furlong.
Kept to novice company at Newcastle (15:35), Veydari will know a lot more this time and, as his ‘p’ symbol indicates, has greater scope for improvement than Atomic Mass who has shown ability too but couldn’t confirm debut promise last time.
More from Sporting Life
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.