Timeform highlight their best bets at Haydock and Navan on Saturday in the form of a ratings banker, a big improver and a Flag to note.
The Ratings Banker
Dragon Symbol – 13:45 Haydock
Dragon Symbol developed into a very smart sprinter for the Archie Watson stable in 2021, a campaign in which he finished in the first four in pattern company on no fewer than six occasions. It was hard to fault his consistency and he was unlucky not to add to his tally after completing a four-timer in a minor event at Hamilton last May, particularly at Royal Ascot where he was demoted after passing the post first in the Commonwealth Cup.
That was just about a career-best performance and Dragon Symbol is sure to take plenty of beating if running to the same level in this Listed contest. For context, he is 8 lb clear of the field on Timeform’s weight-adjusted ratings and it’s a race in which potential improvers are few and far between.
Admittedly, Dragon Symbol was below his best when starting out for Roger Varian in the Duke of York Stakes earlier this month, but he looked to be carrying condition beforehand and that first run of the season seems sure to bring him on. This will provide a better guide to his prospects this year and, on paper, it looks a very good opportunity for him to regain the winning thread before he steps back up in grade.
The Big Improver
Olivia Maralda – 13:05 Navan
Olivia Maralda is bred to be a precocious sort – she is by Kodiac and a half-sister to a couple of two-year-old winners – and big things were clearly expected of her on her debut at the Curragh last week, starting the 2/1 favourite in a maiden which came less than six weeks after she was bought for 460,000 guineas at the breeze-ups.
In the event, Olivia Maralda was forced to settle for the runner-up spot behind the Ger Lyons-trained newcomer Zarinsk, but she still produced a promising first effort. Settled just behind the leaders in the early stages, she was unable to quicken on command when they kicked on with two furlongs to run, but there was plenty to like about the way she stuck to her task, keeping going well to pass the post just a neck behind the winner.
That form sets the standard in this line-up and the small ‘p’ attached to her Timeform rating denotes that she is open to improvement with the run under her belt. In what looks a red-hot maiden, featuring a couple of impeccably bred newcomers from the Aidan O’Brien yard, Olivia Maralda still rates a very solid selection to get off the mark at the second attempt.
The Timeform Flag
Kinross – 15:30 Haydock
Horse In Focus, Timeform Top Rated
Kinross shaped better than the bare result when last seen finishing ninth in the Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot in October, passing the post only four and a quarter lengths behind the winner and looking unlucky not to finish closer still after meeting plenty of trouble.
That race was run over six furlongs and the balance of his form would suggest that Kinross is a better horse over seven furlongs anyway, particularly with a bit of ease in the ground. Indeed, his best two efforts of last season both came under those conditions, first when winning this Group Three and then when following up in the Lennox Stakes at Goodwood (by a neck from the subsequent Champions Sprint winner Creative Force).
Kinross underlined with those victories that he is a very smart performer on his day and that form is better than anything his seven rivals here have achieved. He is unlikely to lack for fitness given that he won this race on last season’s reappearance and another big run seems assured from a horse who was consistent for the most part in 2021 after being gelded earlier that year.
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