Haydock Saturday

2.05 Bet365 Handicap 1m 6f1yds

The race in which Many Men beat Novelista at Doncaster last time could be the key to this contest and Charlie Johnston’s colt is taken to exact revenge. The pair also clashed at York on their previous start in a race won by subsequent Royal Ascot hero Merchant, with Novelista only sixth and three lengths behind Many Men in third.

The selection sounds held on those runs but is better off at the weights and clearly improved when closing the gap markedly over this trip on Town Moor. There is more to come from both, and little to choose between them, but the York form in particular is very strong, and I’d expect both to remain competitive, with Novelista arguably better value at the overnight odds.

2.40 Bet365 Lancashire Oaks (Group 2) (Fillies & Mares) 1m 3f 175yds

The scenario here is simple. If it rains, then Estrange wins but if it stays dry, then she may be vulnerable. It’s not like she needs soft ground, however, and it was officially good when she bolted up in the Pinnacle Stakes over course and distance last time.

A repeat of that will be more than good enough to follow up and there is enough rain forecast to suggest the chances of “firm” appearing in the going description are slim. Whether she is an ‘Arc’ filly as has been touted remains to be seen, but she is a smashing sort who can outclass these granted any ease underfoot.

3.15 Bet365 Old Newton Cup Handicap 1m 3f 175yds

Midnight Lion is turned around quickly after a staying-on fourth in the Northumberland Vase last week, but he can take his racing well and gets on well with Laura Young, for whom he’s already scored twice. He looks value given how tough and consistent Jim Goldie’s older handicappers are.

Midnight Lion clearly stays two miles but he does have tactical speed, and made all the running to score over a mile and a quarter at Newcastle in March. All his recent runs and six of his career wins have come on the Tapeta at Gosforth Park, but he showed useful form to win a Goodwood maiden for Charlie Johnston and it would be dangerous to assume he’s just a Newcastle specialist. A handy, keen going sort, he will be suited by this track and should be competitive from the outset.

Sandown Saturday

1.50 Coral Charge (Group 3) 5f 10yds

There are two who make some appeal to me here, with Kerdos easily the most solid. Clive Cox’s five-year-old entire unseated Christophe Soumillon and got loose before the start of the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot and was drawn away from the main action, so ran a race full of credit in the circumstances to finish fifth to American Affair.

The son of Profitable was first home on the far side at Ascot and is just about the pick of this field on adjusted ratings. He is suited by a stiff five furlongs and should be able to take up a good tracking position from stall five here.

The other I can’t completely ignore is Manaccan, for all he failed to beat a rival in that Royal Ascot contest. His run there was his first for over two years and he showed speed to dispute the lead for over three furlongs before fading. He was a smart and progressive sprinter as a three-year-old, winning the Rous Stakes at Ascot and the Mercury Stakes at Dundalk and looked as good as ever when third in the Palace House Stakes on his last outing before absence.

In truth, he will probably need another run or two before being able to repeat those efforts, but he was entitled to get tired last time and it would be dangerous to underestimate how much that run could bring him on. A return to his peak would give him a big chance of winning under ideal conditions.

2.25 Coral Challenge (Handicap) 1m

Classic keeps catching the eye from his falling mark and is capable of winning this if the race doesn’t turn out to be a test at the trip, but preference is for the unexposed Greek Order, who failed to adjust to life in the US, but has shown himself at least as good as ever since returning to the UK, with his latest fourth in the Royal Hunt Cup an excellent effort on his first start for Michael Bell.

A course and distance winner as a three-year-old for Roger and Harry Charlton, he is best suited by a stiff track and that explains in part why he failed to match expectations when switched to Bill Mott in the US last year. Only just denied in the Cambridgeshire on his final start for the Charltons, he will benefit from a strong gallop at this trip, and hopefully Mirsky and/or Hi Royal can ensure that.

The latter is well treated on his 2000 Guineas second (Galeron fourth) behind Chaldean in 2023, but was well behind Greek Order at Ascot last month and looks a light of former days, for all he can do a job in ensuring a solid gallop here.

3.00 Coral Distaff (Listed) (Fillies) 1m

She is untried in blacktype contests, but I would not be surprised if the progressive and unexposed Blue Bolt were to prove a class apart from het rivals here. An easy novice winner at Windsor in May, she progressed again to defy a penalty in similar company at Newbury last time, leading on the bridle two furlongs out and going clear to beat Majaz with plenty up her sleeve.

This is a step up in class, but she has been brought along nicely and this looks an ideal opportunity to gain a breakthrough at listed level. I’m confident she will keep progressing and land this on the way to better things.

3.35 Coral-Eclipse (Group 1) 1m 1f 209yds

The first question the Eclipse poses is where the pace will come from, and the lack of an obvious front runner is potentially complicating. That said, in a falsely run race, the best place for a jockey to be is on top of the horse with the best turn of foot, as Richard Hughes once memorably said, and I don’t think the way this race is run will put Ombudsman in any difficulty. He got back on the up when an impressive winner of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and could have doubled his margin had he enjoyed a clear run in the straight, so is hard to oppose.

Delacroix may well be the one to make the pace here, and he’s probably not best judged on his Derby run when losing his pitch when hampered after three furlongs and never in the hunt thereafter.

He’s beaten the Derby winner in the Ballysax Stakes and has shown his best form over this trip, but it’s possible that others in his cohort have already progressed past him, and he needs to improve to beat an in-from Ombudsman in any case.

Ruling Court was a last-minute defector at Epsom, but was put firmly in his place in the St James’s Palace Stakes, and similar comments apply to him, for all the extra two furlongs might be a catalyst for further progress.

Recommended

Kerdos 1.50 Sandown – 1pt win 4/1 (general)

Manaccan 1.50 Sandown – 0.5pts e/w 40/1 (Bet365, Coral – 4 places)

Greek Order 2.25 Sandown – 1.5pts win 10/3 (general)

Blue Bolt 3.00 Sandown – 2pts win 2/1 (Hills, Coral, BetVictor)

Novelista 2.05 Haydock – 1pt e/w 7/1 (general)

Midnight Lion 3.15 Haydock – 1pt e/w 33/1 (general – 5 places)