Lady Wulfruna Stakes: Horse-by-horse guide and big-race verdict on Saturday's Wolverhampton feature
Our Senior Form Analyst Jamie Lynch runs the rule over a red-hot renewal of Wolverhampton's flagship contest, live on Sky Sports Racing on Saturday.
ANGEL BLEU
Trainer: Rossa Ryan | Jockey: R M Beckett
Three words which neatly sum up where we find Angel Bleu: Control+Alt+Delete. In short, it's reboot time for him. In the 2-y-o class of 2021, only Native Trail was rated higher in the European classification, after Angel Bleu ascended in the autumn for a Group 1 double, in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and the Criterium International.
His 3-y-o campaign never got going, though, injuring a fetlock in the Sussex Stakes and requiring an operation, making this a comeback conundrum, with conjectural questions about his worth, his well-being, and whether Wolverhampton will agree with him on his first attempt on the All-Weather.
He's the hardest horse to weigh up and therefore to price up, but suffice it to say he'd be automatic favourite on his best form, at these weights, and the stable is very good at getting them back - see New Mandate, for one, from last season as a comparable case study.
Angel Bleu clearly has issues on a macro level, but also a micro level, as a tactical race (little or no pace) on an unfamiliar surface from the widest draw are all added complications, so I'll pass on him.
BERKSHIRE SHADOW
T: Oisin Murphy | J: A M Balding
He's in the same boat - the HMS Retrieval Mission - as Angel Bleu, being a high-achieving juvenile (Coventry winner) whose standards slipped as a 3-y-o and now returns refreshed, and maybe reprogrammed, at a lesser level than he's used to.
He's certainly refreshed, following seven months off, but whether he's reprogrammed depends on the effect of the gelding operation in the meantime, almost asking for it by the end of last season when his displays were tinged with temperament.
Before he lost his mojo he had been fifth in a Guineas and beaten just 1½ lengths into sixth (when Angel Bleu was back in ninth) in the St James's Palace, both times shaping like 7f may be more a help than a hindrance, a nod to this different assignment, and then there's the reunion, with Oisin Murphy back aboard for the first time since 2021.
It will be Berkshire Shadow's first experience of the All-Weather, but he has the tools for the job, as well as the draw to get prominent, which could be decisive in a messy-looking race.
DHABAB
T: R Havlin | J: J & T Gosden
Twice overmatched by Berkshire Shadow as a 2-y-o, firstly in the Coventry (when favourite) and then 2l adrift when the pair were fourth and fifth in the Dewhurst.
However, Dhabab has got an advantage of sorts over that rival in that he has regenerated more recently, returning from a long absence (and a wind op) to win a handicap convincingly off 103 last October, crucially at 7f on the All-Weather, at Kempton, and it wasn't necessarily the backward step it seemed when trailing in last of 4 in a listed race next time as he didn't settle in a muddling mile race, hence the hood is on now.
He has been freshened up for this, representing a stable that has hardly missed with what heavier artillery it has wheeled out this year (see Mostahdaf and Lord North), and it's meaningful that Dhabab has won first time out in both seasons so far, plus he has the pace to make use of stall 1 if Rab Havlin plays him that way.
He'd be a banker for the placepot, but a full-scale resurgence by one or two of the others would probably do for him.
HARRY'S BAR
T: James Doyle | J: A McGuinness
An evergreen 8-y-o who's had more races than Angel Bleu, Berkshire Shadow, Dhabab and Tinker Toy put together, 47 in total, but only three of those have been at 7f, otherwise kept to 5f or 6f.
His last four wins have all come sprinting at Dundalk, and under claiming riders, so in various respects this is an away fixture for him, though he was a fast-finishing fourth in the Golden Rose at Lingfield in November, looking all over a 7f horse, but that's just him.
He's second only to Angel Bleu on official ratings, and he was successful on his only previous visit to Wolverhampton, in his early days with James Fanshawe. Having said all of that, it would still be a slight surprise to me if he won this, given the age concern and alien circumstances.
JUMP THE GUN
T: P Mulrennan | J: I Jardine
Went from strength to strength last year, but that still leaves him short for listed level, illustrated to some extent by his 2022 sign-off when fourth at Redcar, in a weaker listed event than this.
If this was a handicap he'd be getting weight - and plenty of it - off all bar Hodd's Girl. He's 0/5 off meaningful breaks (of 2 months or more), and so every stat, including his price, highlights that he's out of his pay grade in this company.
TINKER TOY
T: J Mitchell | J: R Varian
Gut feeling says that this renewal is some way stronger than the one he won last year but, having revisited it, there were as many as 7 rivals rated 100 or higher, plus he won it tidily, albeit well positioned in an untruly-run race, though the same scenario could well play out this time.
And yet he's coming in under the radar again to a degree, but with some mitigation. Why? Because 7f is his optimum trip, while his warm-ups this winter have been at either 8f or 6f.
I'd be expecting the full-power version of Tinker Toy to rock up at Wolverhampton at his Goldilocks trip, but there's definitely a larger dose of power and potential amongst the opposition this time, so that the same performance may get him only fourth in this edition.
HODD'S GIRL
T: R P Whelan | J: A McGuinness
Yet another fine advert for the training talents of Ado McGuinness, who has turned her inside out in the space of 10 starts for him, winning four of them and rising 38 lb in the handicap.
All the same, she's still packing the lowest official rating in the field, and she doesn't have the assistance of a claiming rider, as has been deployed for her so far by McGuinness, and so it's easy to see how and why she's up against it at this level, also the first time she's travelled outside of Ireland.
VADREAM
T: David Egan | J: Charlie Fellowes
Her career has felt like talent short-changed, even though the one and only win since her debut came in the Group 3 Bengough Stakes at Ascot, at the expense of King's Lynn, in 2021. Her flaws make her frustrating, and she was overturned in a 4-runner fillies' race last time, on a rare try at 7f, but there are still reasons for optimism here.
Firstly, there's her odds, fundamentally big for one with her ability, along with the mares' allowance, and she has a habit of making her presence felt when it's least expected.
And then there's the pace, or lack of it, which suggests the race could test finishing speed above all. If they go steady, and if she settles, then she's got the best kick of anything in the field. I know there are two "ifs" in that sentence but that's built into her price, and then some.
JAMIE LYNCH'S VERDICT
A fascinating renewal of the Lady Wulfruna, high on quality and questions, so intriguing because there are doubts over them all.
I can see Vadream making it to the podium, if she's on her best behaviour, but the best bet involves taking the risk that the gelding operation has worked for BERKSHIRE SHADOW, whose best form is a match for Angel Bleu, and for whom reuniting with Oisin Murphy may make a discernible difference.
Watch the Spreadex Sports Lady Wulfruna Stakes from Wolverhampton live on Sky Sports Racing (Sky 415 | Virgin 535) on Saturday 11th March.
