The Sky Sports Racing presenter shares her thoughts on the latest racing taking place around the country heading into the weekend.
The 10f division looks hot after Daryz waltzed to another G1 success in France, can Ombudsman now remind everyone of his abilities in the Brigadier Gerard at Sandown on Thursday evening?
Ombudsman won’t have things all his own way at Sandown with an opponent or two to keep him honest, but he ought to win this on his first run since landing the Dubai Turf at the end of March. He was described as 90% for that Meydan assignment but he ought to have won that given the opposition.
His two visits to Sandown to date have resulted in two second places. He was runner-up in this race last year after a longer break, beaten by last weekend’s Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Almaqam. That horse struggled to win last season but his recent performance at the Curragh looked good despite a below par effort from favourite Minnie Hauk. Ombudsman’s other Sandown run came in a messy Eclipse when he was beaten by Delacroix under an excellent Ryan Moore ride.
Gethin rates his main danger at Sandown, and that horse has changed hands for a large chunk of change since his reappearance win in the Magnolia Stakes at Kempton last month. He’ll now sport the colours of rising superpower Wathnan Racing but has over a stone of improvement to find to beat Godolphin’s three time group 1 winner. He has a small Timeform “p” next to their rating of him which indicates improvement, but will it be enough at this stage of his career to beat one of the best horses in world, despite getting 7lbs off the Gosden trained favourite. It’s possible as this will be just his sixth appearance on a racecourse. The truth is that it’s not his A race and if he finishes runner up to Ombudsman that’s no disgrace with many prestigious targets in his sights. His trainer Owen Burrows knows what a good horse looks like and he thinks this is a good horse. Burrows won the Brigadier Gerard with Hukum in 2023. Ombudsman is Sky Bet’s 8/11 favourite with Gethin 5/2 next best.
What other horses are you looking forward to seeing on the Sandown card?
Who doesn’t love Sweet William? He’s 5/6 favourite to win the Henry II Stakes but he’s not the horse I’m looking forward to though, it’s his market rival Lazy Griff who is 4/1 to beat the recent Sagaro Stakes winner on his first outing since finishing third in the Irish Derby last June. He suffered a knee problem that ruled him out of the St Leger last season and a more recent niggle has delayed his return this season, but he could make up into a smart stayer.
It’s a big ask to beat a horse with Sweet William’s talent on your first go at two miles and your first outing for 11 months but Charlie Johnston is sure to have him fit to go and he gets 6lb from the favourite.
Have any horses gone into your tracker for Epsom or Royal Ascot recently?
Despite the shambles at Haydock on Saturday, it was good to see Venetian Sun win the Sandy Lane Stakes with the authority of a smart horse. I’d put her up in last week’s blog and to see her cruising on the bridle a furlong from home and then win easily was a thrill. She won the Albany at last year’s Royal Ascot, is unbeaten over six furlongs and is therefore deservedly Sky Bet’s 2/1 favourite to win the Commonwealth Cup.
It was a superb day for her trainer Karl Burke who also has a leading contender for Royal Ascot with Night Raider who is in both Group 1 sprints but is shorter in the betting for the King Charles III Stakes at 10/1.
It turned out to be a blessing that St Anton didn’t take up his engagement at Haydock as the race he was due to run in was abandoned but I very much hope he’s still on target for the Royal meeting where a race like the Britannia would look to suit him well. Richard Hannon Senior won the race with Fox Chapel and Show Faith back in the day and I’m sure Hannon Junior would like to add his name to the roll of honour.
It’s a lower-key weekend before the Derby Festival the following week but have you any tips at Beverley or Chester?
Firstly, it’s great to see Carlisle picking up a meeting on Saturday and filling a Haydock sized void with some of their lost races. No entries at the time of writing though so I can’t tell you much about that.
So, let’s focus on elsewhere. Trainer Becky Menzies will have a gauge on the ability of unraced two-year-old Deputy Vice who is set to line up in Beverley’s Two Year Old Trophy. This colt cost £145,000 as a breeze up purchase and with unbeaten juvenile Adonius to compare him to, he could be one to keep on side, particularly given he gets weight from the winners in this contest. He’s 8/1 with Sky Bet.
There are plenty of horses entered at Chester but that’s very draw dependant so it’s worth waiting to see what happens there before we get carried away. The seven-furlong handicap at 3.30 is the feature and Never So Brave finished second in this last year before going on to win at Royal Ascot, a Group 2 and then a Group 1.
There’s unlikely to be a horse of his potential in the line-up, but it should be a competitive contest, nonetheless. The Ian Williams-trained Supido won at the May meeting here and holds an entry in the Wokingham, for which he possibly needs to go up the handicap to get into that, so he’s one for the shortlist. He’s currently 7/1.
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