Andrew Asquith returns with his ante-post column and has two bets at Haydock on Saturday.
Weekend View: Saturday August 9
1pt win Arolla in the Dick Hern Stakes at 12/1 (William Hill, Betfred, Sky Bet, Paddy Power)
1pt win Detain in the Rose of Lancaster Stakes at 5/1 (Ladbrokes, Coral, 9/2 General)
The Shergar Cup takes place at Ascot this weekend. Some people love it, others loath it. I must admit it isn’t my favourite weekend of the racing calendar, but of course, it brings a different element to racing for one day, a team event which allows overseas jockeys to go up against some of the best in Britain and Ireland.
However, from a punting perspective, particularly at this stage of the week, when you haven’t really got a clue which jockey will be riding what, it makes no appeal whatsoever. There are three other races on ITV this weekend at Haydock and Newmarket, though, so that’s where my focus is going to be.
The Dick Hern Stakes at Haydock has attracted a healthy 22 entries and it looks like being run on good or better ground, with little rain forecast in the area and some blustery conditions.
It’s quite a congested market at the time of writing, too, but the one horse who I think is a little overpriced is the Harry Charlton-trained AROLLA. She looked very promising when winning her first two starts last season, particularly her eight and a half length romp under a penalty in a novice at Leicester (on heavy ground).
It didn’t quite work out for her in a couple of listed events in France on her next two starts last year, but she was too free (again in heavy ground) when starting favourite at Saint-Cloud, and she did well to finish as close as she did coming from further back than ideal on the all-weather at Deauville.
She ran well on her seasonal return in another listed race at Musselburgh in June, beaten only by odds-on favourite Jabaara, who has a good record at that level, and to my eye Arolla still looked inexperienced under pressure. She was also squeezed up in the final furlong, having to come between horses, and having some of these behind her.
That was a very encouraging run after six months off and she started second favourite for the Kensington Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot for her handicap debut just 11 days later. There was a pronounced track bias in that race, though, with those drawn higher and racing in the near-side group at an advantage, while Arolla raced in the smaller group more towards the fair rail.
Admittedly, it was more than track position which caused her to finish down the field, but it may also have been that she found the race coming too soon after her career-best reappearance, having nothing more left to give having travelled well to the two-furlong marker.
There’s no doubting that Arolla is better than she was able to show that day, so I’m willing to put a line through that effort, and back her at 12/1 to bounce back to form. She’s a lightly-raced four-year-old who has an attractive pedigree and I’m sure we are yet to see the best of her.
My next selection is also a Juddmonte-owned horse who also ran below form at Royal Ascot last time and looks set to go in the Rose of Lancaster Stakes, also at Haydock.
The horse in question is DETAIN, who is yet to win on turf (all three wins have come on the all-weather), but he proved he’s more than effective on it when finishing third in the French Derby at Chantilly two starts back.
He looked potentially smart as a juvenile, even though he found the leap into Group 1 company on his third start a bit much, but that came in extreme ground at Doncaster.
Detain resumed his progress when beating Luther by a length off level weights at Chelmsford and, though that rival reversed the form in the French Guineas, he was ridden more prominently, while Detain caught the eye asked to come from further back.
He finished miles ahead of Luther in the French Derby next time and that rival has since gone on to win a Grade 2 in America, so that form line has some substance.
As expected, Detain was well suited by the step up to a mile and a quarter at Chantilly, ridden more prominently than on his previous start and getting the perfect run round, just succumbing to the Aidan O’Brien-trained Camille Pissarro and a progressive French-trained horse close home.
Detain had finished narrowly in front of Trinity College on that occasion, but seemingly didn’t handle the quickish turnaround as well as that horse in the Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot, as he finished way adrift of him.
Trinity College was well supported that day and justified favouritism in grand style, but Detain just ran a bit flat, while much firmer ground than he’d previously encountered could also have been a factor. He’s another who is better than he could show that day and, having been freshened up since, I’m hoping he can bounce back to his French Derby form.
If he does, he will be a force to be reckoned with now taking on his elders for the first time in receipt of an 8lb weight-for-age allowance. Interestingly, John Gosden trained Royal Artillery, who wasn’t at his best in the Hampton Court Stakes (then called the Tercentenary Stakes), before going on to win this race in 2016.
- Preview posted 1450 BST on 05/08/2025
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