By Tom Frary
Britain's prolonged dry spell could be about to end on Saturday, with various connections either beckoning the rain gods or praying the wet stays away for another action-packed afternoon. Haydock's G1 Betfair Sprint Cup has often been played out on rain-softened conditions in the past and, given the time of year it is staged, some give underfoot is to be expected but whether there will be enough moisture to alter the current quick ground remains to be seen. One who has proven form on all types of going is Shadwell's Minzaal (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), who had five of his opponents behind when taking Newbury's G3 Hackwood S. on good-to-firm over this six-furlong trip July 16 and who was equally at home when it was testing as he ran third in Ascot's G1 Qipco British Champions Sprint S. in October. His final three-furlong sectional of :33.05 in the Hackwood was bettered only by the mercurial but highly-talented Rohaan (Ire) (Mayson {GB}), who registered an eye-watering :10.26 penultimate split only to pay for it late and fade to fourth.
Time For Kinross To Shine?
Tried over this trip on only two occasions, Marc Chan's 'TDN Rising Star' Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) looks ideal for this type of test following his smooth win in the seven-furlong G2 City of York S. Aug 20. He had Art Power (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Rohaan in fourth and seventh respectively as he registered a personal best on fast ground there and has always looked a deeply-talented performer who is awaiting his turn. “There's no seven-furlong race before the Foret and he's in good shape, so we are inclined to run for that reason,” trainer Ralph Beckett told QIPCO British Champions Series. “It's possible he might be going forward, as the ratings suggest it was a career-best when he beat Pogo at York. We'll see.”
Power Play
Haydock's fixture gets underway with the Listed Ascendant S., with Godolphin's unbeaten Naval Power (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) moving up to a mile rather than tackling the Irish colts in next Sunday's G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. Anything other than an easy success for the 6 1/2-length Listed Pat Eddery S. winner will serve as an anti-climax and he should extend a rich spell in juvenile black-type races for Charlie Appleby after the yard's G2 Gimcrack S., Listed Stonehenge S., G3 Solario S. and G3 Prestige S. wins. He also has the impressive Goodwood and Newmarket winner Mischief Magic (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) in Kempton's G3 Sirenia S., proof of the stable's incredible strength-in-depth among its 2-year-olds.
September Send-Off For Gear Up
Another set to join the Australian exodus is Teme Valley's Aug. 4 G3 Ballyroan S. winner Gear Up (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), but first the capable Joseph O'Brien-trained 4-year-old is pitched against Mohamed Obaida's G1 Champion S. runner-up Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}) in Kempton's G3 September S. on Saturday. “This will be his last run in Europe for some time. He'll go to Australia after this and we'll be racing him in Australia with some new partners once he's flown down there,” Teme Valley's Racing manager Richard Ryan explained. “We'd have liked to have raced him in the Caulfield Cup this year from Joseph's yard, but there was a small issue on the import restrictions which prevented us from doing that. We still had some interested parties that wanted to be involved so we decided to take that up and race him ourselves for the forthcoming year. He will probably go to Annabel Neasham. Joseph's done a fantastic job getting the horse's enthusiasm back and putting his mojo back. It's not easy with an older horse to put the want back in and Joseph seems very good at that. He won't be racing in the Melbourne Cup or the Caulfield Cup this year but next year who knows, we'll make a plan and take it from there.”
Flying High?
In the aforementioned Sirenia at Kempton, Juddmonte's 'TDN Rising Star' Flag Flying (GB) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) takes on Mischief Magic and co. on his eagerly-awaited reappearance following his emphatic Goodwood novice success over this six-furlong trip June 5. “There has been no particular reason why he hasn't run since Goodwood,” Harry Charlton said. “He was ready to run a month ago, but he has just missed targets and subsequently we have ended up coming here. He is a beautiful mover and will love the all-weather, so I'm not worried about the switch of surface and a flat track should be better for him. He is a big trier and he wants to please.”
Ten For Moulin
Sunday's G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp has attracted 10, with Godolphin's 2000 Guineas and St James's Palace S. hero Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) looking to bounce back from his fifth in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville last time Aug. 14. Al Asayl France's G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. hero The Revenant (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is back off a lay-off with big autumn targets ahead, while Ballydoyle's stalwart Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) bids to go one better than when second to Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) 12 months ago.
Click here for the fields.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
