John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on Monday.
Gunning for another win at Ayr
This will be the third Monday running that Runninsonofagun has turned out at Ayr and he looks set for another big run in the mile handicap (15:45) after a first and a third over the same course and distance in the last two weeks which have earned him the ‘Horses For Courses’ for flag.
His trainer Tristan Davidson has had to be patient for Runninsonofagun to get his head in front since joining the yard from Ireland prior to last season but the breakthrough for the front-running four-year-old came a fortnight ago when he was fitted with blinkers for the first time. Helped by a tailwind in the straight, the headgear evidently made a difference as Runninsonofagun kept going under Jason Hart to make all the running. While he couldn’t quite follow up under a penalty in a higher-grade handicap last week, he shaped well in third, earning the ‘Horse In Focus’ flag. The aggressive tactics were a little overdone this time and Runninsonofagun was held late on by Hale End and Starliner.
Runninsonofagun drops back into class 6 company now and, heading the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings conceding weight all round, he looks capable of resuming winning ways for his in-form stable.
Good opportunity for Rising Tiger
Andrew Balding had a Saturday to remember, and the ‘Hot Trainer’ can get Goodwood week off to a successful start with two-year-old Rising Tiger in the valuable novice at Southwell (16:30). Despite a first prize of more than £15,000, there doesn’t look to be much strength in depth to this contest where Rising Tiger boasts the best form according to Timeform ratings, with Bullrider and Roosike also having placed efforts to their names.
Rising Tiger made his debut over six furlongs at Salisbury and it was a promising start, quickening to lead before going down to the favourite Sonny Parvenue. But while the winner came up short in listed company at Ascot last week, the next three colts who finished behind Rising Tiger all won their next races, giving the form a solid look.
While Rising Tiger himself couldn’t win next time, he did show improved form stepping up to seven furlongs in another novice at Ascot where he ran into a potentially smart colt. Challenging under two furlongs out, he kept on to be beaten two and a quarter lengths by Dr Rascal while finishing further clear of the third, earning the ‘Horse In Focus’ flag. The winner has now won both his starts and goes in Tuesday’s Vintage Stakes at Goodwood and Rising Tiger can give a timely boost to that Ascot form.
Dancing Saxon very well in back in handicap
Galway’s week-long Festival gets under way on Monday evening where Dancing Saxon is the one who leaps off the page in the seven-furlong handicap for three-year-olds (19:15). She jointly heads the weights here but is due to run off a massive 16 lb higher mark in future.
No wonder, then, that her ‘Hot Trainer’ Joseph O’Brien is keen to turn her out quickly before her new mark takes effect. A half-sister to Roger Teal’s smart miler Dancing Gemini, Dancing Saxon is improving in leaps and bounds this year. She began the season getting off the mark in a minor event at Dundalk in February, her only run in cheekpieces, and then returned from a break to land a similar event at Limerick earlier this month.
But Dancing Saxon improved a good deal more at Naas just five days ago when contesting her first listed race. Dropping back to six furlongs, she belied her odds of 25/1 when giving Karl Burke’s winner Soul Love most to do, keeping on to be beaten half a length and having plenty of useful fillies behind her. The return to seven furlongs really ought to suit her better still on breeding, and she should be able to make the most of what looks a golden opportunity in a handicap before perhaps seeking out more black type in due course.
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