Alex Hammond tips and blog including Ripon Great St Wilfrid

By Alex Hammond

Horse Racing

Sat August 13, 2022 · 4y ago

Alex Hammond looks ahead to the key weekend action and recommends keeping a close eye on Mark's Choice, whichever race he ends up in.

I’ve just turned my laptop on, and it has kindly reminded me we are in the middle of a heatwave.

I’m fully aware of that, as is my garden, and if a hosepipe ban is introduced in my area, I won’t have to think about swinging kettlebells around as I’ll be lugging watering cans around to keep the important plants alive.

Imagine running a racecourse or maintaining gallops? It’s presenting challenges to everyone in the industry, making my gardening dilemmas pale into insignificance.

Other than being a wilting flower myself in this heat, it’s been a fun week.

The Racing League got under way at Doncaster and the Shergar Cup provided its usual razzmatazz on Saturday. Both events have allowed participants to showcase their talents in a competitive environment, and Jo Mason is a jockey that has been able to demonstrate her skills to a wider audience.

She chatted to us on Sky Sports Racing at Doncaster and her enthusiasm and engaging personality shone through. It was her riding that made her stand out at Ascot with a winner for the Ladies team on the William Haggas-trained Amanzoe.

Make no mistake, this was a high-pressure mount for the former amateur rider, turned professional jockey. Her first ride for Haggas, on a well-fancied favourite, in a valuable contest, and she was pretty cool against a world-class field.

The unique nature of this event gives jockeys the opportunity to ride for stables that wouldn’t usually be on their radar, and in the past has resulted in working relationships being formed.

At a time when racing is coming under increasing pressure and there is considerable dissatisfaction about numerous issues, it’s refreshing to encounter the effervescent personality of Mason and see her hold her own on a world class stage.

I’m hoping temperatures are a touch cooler in Yorkshire as I’m off to Ripon on Saturday for the William Hill Great St Wilfrid, one of the big betting races of the weekend.

There’s a good chance Mason will be in action at the garden racecourse, a track she boasts a 20% strike rate at, so keep your eyes peeled at declaration time.

There is a good entry for the six-furlong handicap with Blackrod one of the protagonists, the four-year-old will make his first start for Middleham trainer Ed Bethell if committed to the race on Thursday morning. He’s an exciting addition to the yard, and the pressure is on Bethell to realise this horse’s considerable potential.

Sky Bet have installed him as 8/1 joint-favourite to win for his new handler and he’ll be top of my shortlist. He was declared to run in the July Cup but didn’t run due to the ground and despite being a huge price before his withdrawal, I thought he could run well in that Group 1.

That's the esteem his connections hold him in, so this handicap should be well within his compass. I'm a big fan of this horse, he's still relatively lightly raced, and I think he’ll go on to bigger things in the future.

His former trainer Michael Dods recently won the Stewards’ Cup with Commanche Falls, he also saddled Tinto to finish fifth at Goodwood, and the latter could go again here (12/1 with Sky Bet). Dods won this famous handicap in 2019, so he knows what it takes, and this horse has plenty to recommend him. He hasn’t been with Dods for long (bought for just 16,000 guineas at the Horses in Training Sales in October) and already has won two races for the yard. His Ripon record is good, and he has won off a 6lbs higher mark in the past.

At the same price Justanotherbottle is one to consider. He’s a real operator round here with three wins from three starts. He won this race last year off a mark 13lbs lower than his current rating, but he’s won twice over course and distance subsequently and his last winning mark was just 3lbs lower than his current 105. He needs those blinkers to keep working though as he’s a wise soul and there’s no wriggle room with his weight.

Summerghand is 10/1 and can’t be discounted off a 10lbs lower mark than when last successful in a handicap, in the 2020 Stewards’ Cup. His style of racing means he’ll need luck in running and backing him isn’t for the faint hearted.

This is a big field (hopefully in the current climate) handicap and luck is required. The draw usually has an impact, but we should get a heads up on that because the consolation race opens the card and I imagine that’s where Mark’s Choice will end up if connections declare him to run.

He’s become a bit of a 'cliff horse' for me this season, he hasn’t won since last autumn and now makes his debut for a new trainer having been switched by his owners to Adrian Keatley. As a result of his barren spell, he’s dropped to an attractive rating and if the wind problems that have afflicted him in the past can be managed, he could pop up any time soon.

He goes particularly well at Ripon, including a third place and win in the consolation race last year. He’s 33/1 for the main race, but let’s see which he gets into if declared on Thursday morning.

On Sunday the racing roadshow heads to Deauville, and in August it’s the place to be for top-class Flat racing.

The Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois is the highlight and it’s shaping up to be a high-quality renewal. Palace Pier has won the last two runnings of this one-mile contest and John and Thady Gosden have another live contender in Inspiral, after it was reported she had sparkled on the Newmarket gallops mid-week.

She lost her unbeaten record in the Falmouth last time out but hopefully she is back to her brilliant best. She will need to be, because 2000 Guineas and St. James’s Palace winner Coroebus is in the field, as is unlucky St James’s Palace fourth Maljoom.

Joseph O’Brien is taking the bold step of dropping his Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner State Of Rest back to a mile and Irish 2000 Guineas winner Native Trail is also dropping back to the distance after being beaten over a mile and a quarter in the Coral-Eclipse last time out. The latter seems versatile regarding the trip though and stayed well at Sandown.

It seems remiss not to mention some of the other entries, as they won’t be out of place in this line-up. Tenebrism, Prosperous Voyage and Modern Games are also in there, but not all certain to run.

Regardless, there will be a mouth-watering field in Normandy and it’s hard to nail your colours to one specific mast. It would be good to see Maljoom show us what he is capable of after his desperate passage at Royal Ascot and he hasn’t reached the ceiling of his ability yet. He’s 5/2 second-favourite with Sky Bet.

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