Matt Brocklebank was particularly impressed with Haydock scorer Sharadd and features him among three key juveniles to follow this autumn.
Well on their way to reaching the top
It’s a rapidly developing time of year for the juveniles, many of those posting decent figures since the spring suddenly looking not quite so hot in against the next wave of relative slow-burners.
On Sunday, Christopher Head was singing the praises of Coolmore-owned Avec Toi, making comparisons with former stable star Big Rock after he took his record to four wins from four starts in the Group 3 Prix La Rochette.
Having started out on June 2, the son of No Nay Never has swiftly made a name for himself with a quartet of victories and displayed battling qualities to get home at Longchamp by a short-head from the Andre Fabre-trained Imperial Strike under a determined Coline Keane.
“There was a nice fight with a very nice horse,” the trainer said on Sky Sports Racing.
Both really good colts, one suspects, but Avec Toi was conceding 3lb to the second and can be marked up on the bare form, with a shot at the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère almost certainly the next port of call.
A truer end-to-end gallop will aid his cause on Arc weekend and he’s 25/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power) for next year’s 2000 Guineas.
Less than 24 hours earlier, we had the Godolphin-owned First Law winning Haydock’s Betfair Celebrates Bow Echo Ascendant Stakes (replay below), a mile Listed event won 12 months earlier by – you guessed it – this year’s Guineas hero, Bow Echo.
Unlimited Replays
of all UK and Irish races with our Race Replays
Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits
It’s a race Charlie Appleby has struck gold in before too courtesy of subsequent Group 1 second Naval Power, while the 2023 Queen Anne winner Triple Time and 2022 King George hero Pyledriver also feature on the roll of honour.
First Law was another promising sort maintaining an unblemished record and, like Avec Toi, he arguably wasn’t seen to best effect having made the vast majority of his own running.
The Too Darn Hot colt First Law had looked particularly inexperienced when making a winning debut in a Sandown maiden at the start of August, racing with the choke out after breaking slowly in a four-runner field.
This time William Buick was away from the stalls far more sharply and, with nothing else wanting to go on in another four-runner race, he settled First Law in front before keeping him up to his work when tackled by main market rival Rocket Boy.
He’s got a long way to go if he’s going to get close to emulating Bow Echo but the Royal Lodge would be the next step along that road for the sizeable colt, although Appleby has never won that race remarkably and seems to prefer to wait for October’s Autumn Stakes, a Group 3 the trainer has won a record five times thanks to Ghaiyyath, One Ruler, Coroebus, Silver Knott and Ancient Wisdom – three of whom later won at the highest level.
Blown away by Haggas newcomer
Haydock’s Betfair Sprint Cup meeting was packed with intrigue and, going back to Thursday, Sharadd deserves special mention as he made his belated debut in the six-furlong Novice Stakes on the card.
You don’t see too many wow performances in midweek away from the major Festivals but it’s a race his trainer William Haggas had won with Commonwealth Cup-placed Division last year and Sharadd was sent off at even-money, so it was hardly out of the blue.
Even so, the impression he left was a particularly impressive one and I can see the son of Dark Angel in pattern company before the year is out.
Interestingly, he is the sole entry from Somerville Lodge in the Goffs Million at the Curragh towards the end of this month and it could be there that connections look to test the speedily-bred Sharadd over the longer trip of seven furlongs; the Dewhurst entry not sounding all that realistic reading between the lines of Maureen Haggas’s interview on Racing TV in the immediate aftermath of the event.
WATCH: Sharadd scampers to a six-length debut win on soft ground at Haydock
Unlimited Replays
of all UK and Irish races with our Race Replays
Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits
More from Sporting Life
- Free bets
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.al
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.