Today’s free selection Horse: Gotta Catch'em All Race: 15:10 Navan Card no.: 7 Trainer: H Rogers Morning price: 5.00 |
Sprint Cup Day at Haydock, and the ground is the storyHaydock stages the biggest afternoon of the domestic weekend, with £458,677 across eight races and the Group 1 Betfair Sprint Cup at 15:40 worth £226,840 to the winner. Nine went to post at the declaration stage for a race that, on this evidence, will be decided as much by the ground as by the clock. The going is recorded as soft for the Sprint Cup. That is the figure to work from, though it is worth knowing where the week has been: Haydock's Friday card was run on heavy on the inside course with a GoingStick reading of 5.0, and Thursday's fixture raced on soft with good to soft patches after showers. The Saturday forecast is kinder — bright spells, negligible rain, a light north-westerly — so the surface will not get any worse, but a 6f Group 1 on Merseyside turf that has taken this much water is a stamina test dressed up as a sprint. Horses win these by staying in a rhythm through the dip and finishing, not by going hard for four furlongs. What the Sprint Cup asksAlmeraq heads the market at around 5/2, and he arrives with the strongest recent Group 1 form in the race after taking the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. The reservation is obvious enough: that was won on a fast surface, and the sharp-actioned speed types who thrive at Ascot in June do not always transfer to Haydock in September. He does not have to prove he handles soft ground for the favouritism to be justified, but he does have to prove it to win. Clive Cox's Coppull has been the notable mover in the ante-post market, which is the sort of support that usually reflects confidence about conditions rather than a change in form. Soft ground at six furlongs typically compresses the field for the first half of the race and then strings it out badly from the two-furlong marker, which suits the bigger, longer-striding sprinter and punishes anything that has to be niggled early. The stalls are set in the centre, and where the pace concentrates will determine whether the race is run down one side or splits into two groups — a recurring Haydock feature, and one that can flatter or bury a horse regardless of merit. Expect a slow closing sectional and expect the winner to come from off the speed rather than on it. The rest of HaydockThe card opens strongly with the Group 3 Superior Mile at 13:25 over 7f 212y, nine runners for £53,874, and it will function as an early read on the ground for the rest of the afternoon. A mile on this surface at Haydock is unforgiving; horses who need a truly run race and a bit of cut will be at an advantage over the milers who have spent the summer on quicker turf. The Old Borough Cup at 15:05 is the betting heat of the day: fourteen runners over 1m 6f, Class B, £51,540. Big-field staying handicaps on soft Haydock ground reward patience and a horse that can quicken off a slow gallop late; that combination has repeatedly gone to progressive types on the upgrade rather than exposed handicap plodders. Watch the market for the ground-dependent withdrawals here, as the field is the sort that shrinks once trainers see the strip. ElsewhereKempton's September Stakes at 14:50, a Group 3 over 1m 3f 219y for seven runners, is the polar opposite in character — standard going on Polytrack, a likely steady tempo and a race that often falls to the horse best placed turning in rather than the best horse. Ascot's card is built around a valuable heritage handicap on the Big Ascot Food and Wine Saturday, and its straight-track handicaps will be a different game entirely to Haydock's on the ground. Navan's eight-race card runs from 13:30 and offers the Irish alternative, with Thirsk, Newcastle and Stratford filling out an unusually busy Saturday. Today's selectionOur selection is Gotta Catch'em All, trained by H Rogers and ridden by Siobhan Rutledge, in the 15:10 at Navan — a Class B 0-100 handicap over five furlongs, eight runners, good ground, quoted at 5.0 this morning. A small-field minimum-trip handicap on a sound surface is a very different proposition to the Haydock feature: it will be over quickly, early positioning will matter, and the draw and break are likely to be worth more than any late finishing effort. Today’s free selectionToday's free selection is Gotta Catch'em All (H Rogers), number 7 in the 15:10 at Navan. Our strongest selection on today's card. The race is the Christmas Parties At Navan Racecourse On 6th & 13th December Handicap (Class B) (0-100) over 5f on good ground with 8 runners. Morning price 5.00. Our rated price is 20.66. We have 37 further selections on today's card, reserved for subscribers.
Today’s meetings
| Haydock | 8 | 13:25–17:25 | | Ascot | 7 | 13:40–17:10 | | Kempton | 7 | 13:45–17:05 | | Navan | 8 | 13:30–17:30 | | Thirsk | 8 | 13:35–17:35 | | Newcastle | 9 | 16:10–20:30 | | Stratford | 7 | 16:05–19:15 |
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