WILLIE Mullins has some recent record in the Cesarewitch. In 2014, he sent out Digeanta to finish fifth in the race, in 2015, he sent out Renneti to finish fourth and in 2017 he sent out Lagostovegas to finish third.

Then in 2018, the perennial Irish champion National Hunt trainer had the 1-2 with Low Sun and Uradel, and last year, he won it again with Stratum.

Stratum will be aiming to win another big handicap next month on the far side of the world as, competing as Stratum Albion, he is on track for the Melbourne Cup, which leaves Great White Shark as Willie Mullins’ sole representative in today’s Cesarewitch.

Malcolm Denmark’s mare was only 10th in the race last year, but she got loose before the start, which can’t have helped her chances.

Also, she is 3lb lower now than she was then, and she won a good three-mile handicap hurdle at the Galway Festival the last time we saw her.

She has a big chance, but she is a short price. There is a strong Irish representation, and Lynwood Gold could go well for Jessica Harrington and Shane Foley, but Not So Sleepy may represent the best value in the race.

Big race

Hughie Morrison’s horse ran in last year’s renewal too, and he ran a big race to finish fourth, six and a half lengths behind Stratum, but five lengths clear of the Tony Martin-trained Mr Everest in fifth.

He was keen enough through the early stages of the race, and he was prominent from early. He travelled well to the three-furlong marker, and he kept on well after he had been passed.

He will race off a mark of 98 today, 4lb higher than last year’s mark, but you can easily argue that he is still well handicapped on that mark. For starters, the handicapper raised him by 6lb for winning at Pontefract last month, but he gets to race under a 4lb penalty, so he is 2lb well-in. As well as that, he improved over hurdles in the winter.

He won a handicap at Ascot off his hurdles rating of 122 in November, and he went back to Ascot in December and won the Betfair Exchange Trophy impressively off a mark of 127.

He never threatened in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury in February, but there were excuses. He was pulled up in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in March, but he improved by 20lb over hurdles between his run in last year’s Cesarewitch and his debut on the flat this season.

That was at Pontefract last month, when he stayed on well over a mile and a half on soft ground to beat a progressive horse in Dark Jedi well, with the pair of them finishing nicely clear of their two rivals.

That was his first run under any code since the Champion Hurdle, and it should have brought him forward for today’s race, a race that his trainer has surely had as his target for a while. He is eight years old now, but maturity is an asset in the Cesarewitch. Five of the last 10 winners were six or older.

We know that he goes well at Newmarket, he stays the trip, he goes well on soft ground, and he is probably well drawn in stall four.

Dewhurst Stakes

There is also a strong Irish representation in the Darley Dewhurst Stakes, and you can make cases for all five representatives.

It could be a big weekend for Joesph O’Brien, he could win the Dewhurst with Thunder Moon, 24 hours after he won the Fillies’ Mile with Pretty Gorgeous.

Thunder Moon has an obvious chance. The turn of foot that he showed for Declan McDonogh to extricate himself from an unpromising position in the National Stakes last time was the turn of foot of a top class juvenile. But he garnered all the headlines, and the performance that Wembley put up in finishing second may have gone a little under the radar as a consequence.

The Galileo colt was slowly away that day, and he was held up out the back early on, so he wasn’t advantaged by the sedate early pace. Still last as they passed the furlong marker, he was switched to the near side and he picked up smartly for Wayne Lordan, finishing off his race well to finish second, beaten just a length and a half by the winner.

Aidan O’Brien’s horse does have that length and a half to find with Thunder Moon, but he continues to progress, and he is proven on soft ground. The disparity in their respective odds is probably greater than it should be.

A full-brother to Criterium International winner Johannes Vermeer, he should get a stronger pace today than he got last time at the Curragh, and that should suit him well, in a race that his trainer has won six times, and four times in the last seven years.

Chindit is a worthy favourite, and Cadillac should run a big race if he handles the ground okay, but Wembley could be the most under-rated horse in the race.

Recommended

Wembley, 2.55 Newmarket, 10/1 (generally), 1 point win, Wembley

Not So Sleepy, 3.35 Newmarket, 11/1 (generally), 1 point each-way