14:50 Amix Silver Bowl Handicap 1m 37y
Alan King won this race with Chatez in 2014, something that won’t be easily forgotten – it was the final leg of a massive Scoop6 pot which had been rolling over for what had seemed like months. Our smallish syndicate was still alive, with two hopes in the race including Ed Dunlop’s 8/1 poke Zarwaan, who got the in-running comments “dropped out, going easily biding his time, swept down the outside, couldn’t get all the way to the winner,” from Timeform.
Chatez broke our hearts that day, so the least Kingy can do is to give us the winner this year. Aweedram looks just the type for this valuable handicap, having won both starts this season at Newmarket and Ascot.
Having beaten subsequent winner Archaeology at Newmarket in April, he progressed again to get the better of the promising I’m Available – an eight-length winner of her previous start – at Ascot, on both occasions waited with and producing a strong run to lead late, a tendency to take a strong hold not stopping him last time.
That run style is very effective at Haydock, with several recent winners of this race, including last year’s victor Crack On Crack On coming from the rear to win. King’s runners in handicaps at around this trip have proven profitable to follow over recent years, and the booking of Richard Kingscote is a big positive, the rider’s record at Haydock an excellent one, and his wide draw will not be a concern at all given how well his rider understands the vagaries of the track.
16:00 Armstrong Aggregates Temple Stakes (Group 2) 5f
Battaash is the one to beat here on the best of his form, and despite not being at his very peak, he still managed to beat Kachy and Mabs Cross into third and fourth in this contest a year ago, albeit with just over half a length covering the first four home in a desperate finish.
I suggested that he is likely to again put up the best performance of the season over this trip. However, his tendency to show his true brilliance only on occasions means that he should be opposed as a rule, and while Mabs Cross lacks his stunning early acceleration, she is utterly reliable. Her ability to give her all on every start means that she will produce the goods more regularly that Charlie Hills’s star.
Kachy complicates matters, but his recent wins have come around a bend on the all-weather, and his ability to corner at top speed has enabled to shake off his opposition on recent starts. He’s shown his vulnerability on straight tracks before, being beaten 15 times in his 16 races on a straight track, as opposed to his record around a turn, when he has won all but one of his nine starts, including on turf.
For her part Mabs Cross is bombproof, and her heaviest defeat since her debut came when beaten under two lengths into third in last year’s King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot last year, and she would have beaten Battaash for second in another stride. Such a level of consistency makes her the one punters should latch on to.
16:35 EBF British Stallion Studs Cecil Frail Stakes (Listed) 6f
Island Of Life is unlucky not to have a few more wins on her CV, which looks impressive enough, including when getting shuffled back on the home turn before finishing fast for second behind Heavenly Holly in the All-Weather Fillies’ And Mares’ Championships Conditions Stakes at Lingfield on Good Friday.
She’s equally effective on turf and at this trip, although reportedly must have fast ground, which she will barring unexpected rain, and she is confidently expected to gain her revenge on Hugo Palmer’s filly, who was ridden to maximum effect on the day.
York Saturday
15:05 William Hill Bronte Cup Fillies’ Stakes (Group 3) 1m 5y 188y
Maid Up looks overpriced on balance here, and her price reflects a poor run on her reappearance in the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket which looked to be needed quite badly, and she will have ideal conditions here. She was hugely progressive last year on quick ground, to the extent that she was given a try against the best of her generation in the St Leger. That proved a bridge too far, but a short-head second to Pilaster in the Lillie Langtry Stakes at Goodwood is a fair indicator of her talent, and she shouldn’t be much bigger than Roger Varian’s filly on that evidence.
The pair of them have achieved more than favourite Enbihaar, who could easily be flattered by her win in the Daisy Warwick Stakes at Goodwood, that listed race often weak, and particularly so this year, for all the winner seemed to have plenty in hand. This will be a much sterner test for the daughter of Redoute’s Choice, and I can leave her alone at the odds.
Recommended
AWEEDRAM:14:50 Haydock – 2pts win @ 8/1 (Hills, Paddy Power)
MABS CROSS:16:00 Haydock – 2pts win @ 11/4 (Hills)
ISLAND OF LIFE:16:35 Haydock – 1pt win 7/2
MAID UP:15:05 York – 1pt win @ 9/2 (general)