'His form on soft ground puts him right up there'
We are at that stage of the turf season where we start ticking off 'last-ofs' for the year. On Saturday it is cheerio not only to York, but to the major sprint handicaps which punctuate the turf season. This will be the last such race of 2023 worth more than £50,000.
It is no wonder then that the field is something of a greatest hits collection. It contains the Ayr Gold Cup winner (Significantly), third (Gweedore) and fourth (Albasheer); the Silver Cup winner (Wobwobwob); the Stewards' Cup winner (Aberama Gold); the Wokingham second (Apollo One); and a host of old favourites like Summerghand, Bielsa and Mr Wagyu.
Sprinters never make it easy for punters. It would not be true to the division if horses like those mentioned tended to win here. Ayr has dropped the odd clue, but generally this race is the strongest trial for itself.
Or, this is an autumn race, so back autumn horses. This approach would admittedly knock out few of the early market principals. They are the players from Ayr, plus Apollo One who was winning on the all-weather at this time last year.
Often, 'autumn' and 'spring' horses are just better at handling soft ground. York avoided much of the recent rain until Friday morning, but it has not taken much to turn the ground soft. Despite a dry forecast for Saturday, it is likely to remain testing.
I have duly talked myself into giving Magical Spirit, fourth in 2020, another go after being sweet on him for the Ayr Gold Cup. Pendleton is also high on the shortlist.
Pendleton thrives on soft ground, but does not need it. His new trainer Julie Camacho was still threatening the cold list when he won on his stable debut six weeks ago, but she is flying now. This race could hardly have arrived at a better time for a horse who has run three of the seven best races of his life at the track.
Race analysis by Keith Melrose
What they say
Adam Ryan, assistant to Kevin Ryan, trainer of Bielsa, Aleezdancer, Magical Spirit and Chuzzlewit
Bielsa, Aleezdancer and Magical Spirit all ran well to an extent on tacky, deadish ground in the Ayr Gold Cup and the rain will be no issue for Aleezdancer – his form on soft ground puts him right up there. Bielsa is a high-class handicapper and won't mind juice in the ground and the same can be said of Magical Spirit, who has run well in this race before. Chuzzlewit is trying six furlongs for the first time this season, but has been showing more speed at home and we've always thought a hell of a lot about him. It's hard to split them, but, if conditions are tough, Aleezdancer should thrive.
Steve Brown, assistant to Julie Camacho, trainer of Significantly and Pendleton
Significantly is building his profile back to where he was as a young horse with Karl Burke and his last two runs have been huge. He’ll enjoy the ground and we’re as hopeful as we can be ahead of a 22-runner race. His form has worked out. He did a bit of work last week and we were really pleased with him. Pendleton did it nicely on his first start for us at Thirsk. He was a useful horse for Michael Dods and he had some good form at York. He was in the Ayr Gold Cup but we didn’t feel he was quite in the form he had been before he won at Thirsk so we decided to wait a few weeks for this.
Ado McGuinness, trainer of Laugh A Minute
He's in great form and is in the same stall [two] to the one he was in when he was second in the race two years ago.
Niall O'Brien, joint-founder of Ontoawinner, part-owners of Wobwobwob
He's in great order. He came out of his win at Ayr last time very well and we're fairly optimistic. I'm not far from York and there's been a fair bit of rain about, and, the more that comes, the better. He's straightforward and he's drawn okay in stall three.
Read the rest of Saturday's previews:
Do you want £400+ of free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets
