Betfair Sprint Cup tips: Long-range Value Bet preview for Haydock

Antepost Value Bet tips: Saturday September 9

1pt e.w. Saint Lawrence in Betfair Sprint Cup at 20/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Already advised

1pt e.w. Spycatcher in Betfair Sprint Cup at 16/1 (bet365 1/5 1,2,3) - 15/08/23

A hot week in the north west of England may be welcome news for those super-shrewd holidaymakers heading for the Lakes just as all the kids have cleared off back to school, but it’s grave news for some of us antepost punters.

Spycatcher was the long-range selection for Saturday’s Betfair Sprint Cup but with ‘good, good to soft’ ground no doubt drying rapidly on Monday and the weather for the rest of the week set extraordinarily fair, I fear it’s going to take some herculean irrigation from the good folk at Haydock for Karl Burke’s five-year-old to even stand his ground come the final decs on Thursday.

Never say never at this track, but Spycatcher can’t have it soft enough in truth and we’re seemingly fighting a losing battle when it comes to him despite featuring among 23 five-day acceptors. Stop me when you can tell that owners Highclere Thoroughbreds supplementing George Boughey's Believing has filled me with a sense of foreboding...

It’s never a great starting point but you can’t let a dicey antepost bet put you off if there’s still an angle to be found and with second-favourite Kinross surely also a doubtful runner given the forecast, it's no massive shock to see Shaquille go odds-on across the board.

He’s just about secured champion sprinter bragging rights already – win, lose or draw at the weekend and Ascot on Champions Day – but he’s still occasionally more ‘naughty boy’ than ‘messiah’ according to connections and no matter how good any individual horse is, it’s not easy to keep rattling off the Group 1 wins throughout a long sprint campaign.

I could be clutching rather but perhaps his sluggish tendencies at the start will one day catch up with Shaquille and, with trainer Julie Camacho sending out just three winners from over 50 starters since a memorable July Cup, I’m pretty keen to have another each-way dart before the field cuts up again come the weekend.

Lezoo looks the more likely runner for Ralph Beckett and owner Marc Chan but I’m not convinced she’s good enough, while another former favourite of mine, Sacred, had the distinct look of a mare well on her way to the breeding sheds when only fifth in the City Of York at the Sky Bet Ebor Festival.

Regional surely deserves another chance at the highest level and may be suited by stepping back up to six furlongs after getting a bit swept off his feet in the Nunthorpe, while Spycatcher’s stablemate Swingalong likes it fast underfoot and looks to be on the improve, but the one to be on at current odds has to be SAINT LAWRENCE at 20/1.

• Click here to back Saint Lawrence with Sky Bet

He’s shown sparks of real quality for Roger Varian in the past but only this season, since switching to Archie Watson, has the five-year-old started to realise his true potential and it’s was massively encouraging to see the blinkers - worn for the first time when defying a mark of 100 on his stable debut in the Wokingham – seem to work their magic again in France last month.

Just a quarter of a length behind Spycatcher (and winner King Gold who edged the verdict by a nose) in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, Saint Lawrence’s effort was all the more meritorious for two reasons.

He tanked his way through the early parts of the race and was a shade too keen for Hollie Doyle before briefly being denied a clear run as Spycatcher skipped into the lead.

He stayed on strongly once switched out into the centre of the course but the key element with this weekend’s race in mind is that he’ll be getting back onto quick ground.

Prior to that effort across the Channel, Saint Lawrence’s best form had nearly all come on a sound surface and I’m pretty sure he’s the sort of horse you can back now and rest easy in the sun-lounger safe in the knowledge that his chances are increasing by the minute.

He's as short as 14/1 with Coral and Ladbrokes which I still think could look decent value come Saturday so the general 20/1 has to be snapped up at this point.

Published at 1505 BST on 04/09/23

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