Betfair Sprint Cup analysis | Minzaal comes of age in style

Story of the race

The lack of a storm provided the perfect storm for MINZAAL to run out a seriously impressive winner of the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday in a course record time.

Earlier in the week plenty of rain was forecast for the Newton-Le-Willows track on race day, but the showers stayed away, the ground remained quick and that meant Brad The Brief, Great Ambassador, Kinross, Castle Star and Umm Kulthum were taken out of the Group One feature.

Left with a field of 12, they went quick from the moment the stalls opened with Art Power and Go Bears Go taking them along with Naval Crown, Emaraaty Ana and Flaming Rib in close attendance.

Minzaal settled nicely in midfield under Jim Crowley, getting a dream run through in the centre of the equine formation, getting plenty of cover from all sides as the aforementioned quintet got the pack rolling at a good clip.

At the two-furlong pole Emaraaty Ana hit the front but he, like the rest of the field, bar Minzaal, was under pressure, Crowley still sitting pretty on the eventual winner as he hit the gap between Kevin Ryan’s horse and Flaming Rib.

At the furlong pole Minzaal had just hit the front, at the half-furlong pole he was a couple of lengths clear and, kept up to his work, he was three-and-three-quarter lengths in front of his nearest rival at the line in an official time of 1m 8.44 seconds.

That’s 0.66 seconds quicker than Emaraaty Ana’s race record from last year and 0.12 seconds quicker than Harry Angel’s previous track record, achieved on ‘Firm’ ground when carrying 5lb less in the 2017 Sandy Lane.

The stars aligned for a not-that-surprising track record here - Look Out Louis broke the five-furlong track record in a Class 2 handicap later on the card - but this was top-class sprinting nonetheless.

Minzaal breaks Group One duck

It was fifth time lucky for Minzaal who had previously come up short at the top level.

Beaten in the Middle Park as a juvenile and then in the Champions Sprint after a truncated campaign the following year, he began his four-year-old season with a promising third behind Highfield Princess in the Duke of York but didn’t kick on from that with a lacklustre effort in the Platinum Jubilee at Royal Ascot next time.

At that point it looked as though Owen Burrows had a job on to revive the son of Mehmas, but he bounced back to winning form when his sights were lowered in the Hackwood Stakes at Newbury which now looks a key turning point in his season.

Beaten only by the thriving Highfield Princess in the Group One Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, Minzaal was now knocking on the door and at Haydock on Saturday he barged through it in style.

Credit must go to the Burrows team for restoring Minzaal to his absolute peak, for this was a horse who settled serenely and quickened beautifully in the white-hot environment of a Group One sprint.

The question now is can he do it again? The Champions Sprint at Ascot looks the obvious place for him and though he bounced off the fast ground at Haydock more autumnal and softer turf is unlikely to inconvenience him.

Things might not go as perfectly next time and we might get to see what Minzaal is really made of then, but after this he looks like a sprinter that can go and win more races at this level.

If commercial interests allow him to race on at five Burrows will have a top horse to go to war with in the big sprints, and that will be just reward for a trainer who has puffed his chest out and moulded a wonderful season for his small string in 2022.

Emaraaty Ana best of the rest

No horse has won a second Sprint Cup since Be Friendly in 1967 and no horse has won a second Platinum Jubilee or July Cup since Right Boy in 1959, either, underlining just how difficult it is to repeat the trick in these six-furlong Group One Sprints.

Last year’s winner Emaraaty Ana would’ve done so here but for bumping into Minzaal, his second-place finish representing a season’s-best performance in this contest for the second successive year.

The Shamardal gelding loves the fast ground and in that respect he’s been lucky to encounter ideal conditions at this track two years running, but this was another step forward after a good run in defeat at York.

It’s unlikely he’ll be fortunate enough to encounter quick ground on Champions Day, so Kevin Ryan could well look abroad for him as he bids to eke another top-level win out of the six-year-old.

Fourth to Golden Pal at last year’s Breeders’ Cup, Keeneland could well be on the cards for him in November as he’s got all the tools to thrive in America, but the ground is likely to dictate where he goes next. He’s a fine example of his trainer’s talents with sprinters. He keeps them sweet for so long.

Rohaan needs it all to drop right

Rohaan is also a great credit to his trainer, David Evans.

The son of Mayson is getting closer in Group One company, his finishing positions at the highest level now reading 10-9-5-18-4-3. This third is the closest he’s come in a Group One, positionally at least, his come-from-behind style not really lending itself to this type of race.

He did the best of those coming from off the pace under Hollie Doyle here, but his two Wokingham victories are good evidence that he thrives coming through horses in big fields – at this level the fields are rarely that big and the better horses don’t tend to come back to him like they do in handicap company.

Ascot is probably his best chance of striking at the highest level. He loves it there and the Champions Sprint and Platinum Jubilee can attract the big fields he craves.

Over the top in the Champions Sprint last season on what was his 12th run of the year, he’s only had the eight runs this time around and might put up a better showing, although it’ll be tough for him to reverse form with Minzaal whatever the scenario.

Rib could improve over five furlongs

The three-year-olds disappointed as a group in this race but Flaming Rib fared best of them in fourth.

Beaten a neck here in the Sandy Lane and then second again in the Commonwealth Cup, he was back to that sort of form after racing too keenly to do himself justice in the July Cup.

He ran a bit free here, too, but not to the same extent as he saw his race out better. Given the pace he shows early, though, he might settle even better over five furlongs and it might be worth Hugo Palmer thinking about dropping him to the minimum trip.

Well-backed Naval runs flat for Buick

The big disappointment of the race was Naval Crown.

After Kinross was withdrawn Charlie Appleby’s horse was well-backed in the market and he went off the 3/1 favourite as punters trusted him to return to his Platinum Jubilee-winning form.

Unfortunately for backers he ran really flat, weakening into 11th after running prominently early on, this a more significant regression than his Deauville fifth last time out.

He won’t be William Buick’s favourite horse, as he chinned him when he rode Creative Force at Royal Ascot and now he’s run poorly under him in the absence of James Doyle.

It’ll be tough for Appleby to get Naval Crown back in top form now, but at least the Champions Sprint at Ascot is at a course he loves, so he’s likely to have one more crack at another Group One before he heads out to Dubai.

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