The Sky Bet Sunday Series returns to Musselburgh after the East Lothian course answered an SOS following the abandonment of the original fixture at waterlogged Ayr. With recent course form aplenty on show, Scottish Sun columnist and Racing TV analyst Ed Watson digs out three fancies on a typically competitive seven-race card.
THE BEST BET
MONTEZUMA (18:45 Musselburgh)
Anyone who’s read my thoughts on a Horse To Follow for the season won’t be at all surprised to see MONTEZUMA handed top billing. In a nutshell, I reckon he’s a 90-rated sprinter in the making. Maybe more.
He first came on to my radar when an unlucky loser at Hamilton last July on just his second start for Jim Goldie. Placed efforts in Racing League events at Chepstow and Windsor confirmed that promise, for all that a tendency to race too keenly early doors impacted his finishing effort.
The type to thrive as a four-year-old, the former Godolphin inmate was a massive eye-catcher over track and trip on Easter Saturday, repeatedly being denied a clear run under 5lb claimer Lauren Young and only getting out once the winner, Wheels Of Fire, had gone beyond recall. Unsurprisingly, he was well-backed with Paul Mulrennan taking over eight days later and duly made no mistake, sitting handier having broken smartly from stall 10 and skipping clear inside the final half-furlong.
The handicapper meted out a 7lb hike for that one-and-three-quarter-length defeat of Vince L’Amour, taking him up to a new mark of 78. Providing he’s not the victim of a hard-luck story that you sometimes get in a 13-runner Musselburgh sprint, I expect Montezuma to prove he remains a well-handicapped horse.
The Inside Track: “I’ve always thought Montezuma is a talented horse. We’ve done some work with him over the winter and I think that’s helped. Getting horses to improve from one season to the next is our specialist subject! You’d have to say a 7lb rise is fair enough - but I’ll be surprised if it stops him.” - Jim Goldie, trainer
THE NEXT BEST
HAMLET’S NIGHT (17:15 Musselburgh)
A dry and sunny week on Scotland’s east coast is just what the weatherman ordered for HAMLET’S NIGHT. A dual winner over hurdles for James Owen, he’s not been seen to best effect in two goes in handicaps; firstly in the Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso, where conditions turned against him, and then in Plumpton’s Sussex Champion Hurdle.
Wind the clock back to Wincanton in November, though, when he followed up an excellent Cheltenham second by making Rubaud pull out all the stops to land his third Elite Hurdle at odds of 1/8. While Paul Nicholls’ winner wasn’t at his best that day, it’s also reasonable to suggest Hamlet’s Night would probably have taken a notable scalp in that Grade 2 had he jumped the final flight more fluently.
Either way, that served to underline how effective Hamlet’s Night can be on decent ground and on a speed-favouring, right-handed track. That point was emphasised by a subsequent success on Kempton’s all-weather in February which looked to have teed him up perfectly for a Morebattle bid.
A 4lb rise returning to the Flat looks more than manageable on a favourable track and with conditions to suit. Owen’s charge is unexposed in this discipline for a trainer with an excellent record at improving horses he inherits from other yards, while the booking of Jason Hart, who rides Musselburgh particularly well, is another positive. Like Montezuma, he’s Timeform top-rated.
Fast Fred is one of three winners from the series opener a fortnight ago (Montezuma and Abduction being the others) who return chasing a second success that would put them just one away from scooping the £100,000 bonus that has been landed in each of the last two years.
The Inside Track: “Hamlet’s Night has done very well over hurdles and he won nicely back on the Flat at Kempton. The trip, track and ground up in Scotland should be ideal and it’s good to have Jason Hart on board - he’s got some very good stats at Musselburgh. After this it will hopefully be on to the Swinton Hurdle at Haydock. I think he’s still potentially well-handicapped as a hurdler.” - James Owen, trainer
THE TREBLE BET
DWINDLING FUNDS (15:45 Musselburgh)
For a backward type who didn’t make the track until the April of his four-year-old season, DWINDLING FUNDS didn’t half make up for lost time during a productive 2025.
Six wins from July onwards, over trips from 7f to 1m2f, on ground ranging from good-to-firm to heavy, and ending an 18-race campaign with a nose defeat over this track and trip in November off a mark 23lb higher than when his winning run started.
Further success seems imminent this term based on a career-best effort on Timeform figures when runner-up to Noche Classica here over a furlong further a fortnight ago.
That filly was winning for the fourth time in just six career starts on turf and is well on her way to stepping up to Listed level. So there was certainly no disgrace in coming out best in a blanket finish for second under Rhys Elliott, especially as Dwindling Funds was 2lb wrong at the weights upped to 0-95 company for the first time.
Able to run off the same mark here and with race fitness under his belt, a bold bid seems assured from the Goldie runner now returned to the calmer waters of a 0-80 and with Elliott retaining the ride in this apprentice-only contest.
The Inside Track: “I think the jockey ran out of puff more than anything last time! To be fair to Rhys, he was just coming back from an injury lay-off and he’s ridden a couple of winners since then. It was a good run from them both. I wouldn’t say Musselburgh is the ideal track for Dwindling Funds, but 7f or 1m round there does suit his run style. When you can build momentum around the home bend and keep rolling along in front, like he does, it takes a good one to pass you.” - Jim Goldie, trainer
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