HAYDOCK’S Saturday card featured a couple of Group 3 races and rained-on ground, resulting in a soft surface, on the round course at least. Bateel’s success in the Pinnacle Stakes was convincing and was backed up by a 106 timefigure, though whether she is as effective when the mud is not flying is open to doubt.

More workmanlike in victory was Absolutely So in the John of Gaunt Stakes, run in a time only 0.72s quicker than the handicap which followed it (in which the younger winner, Mjjack, carried more weight). The clear leader, That Is The Spirit, was largely ignored and raced alone in the straight, though the principals’ closing sectionals suggest only a small upgrading is justified.