John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on Sunday.
High Fibre going for hat-trick
High Fibre is yet another horse who has evidently thrived for the switch to James Owen’s Newmarket yard and he looks capable of making it a hat-trick across both codes in York’s two-mile handicap (14:40).
High Fibre was already a winner on the Flat and over hurdles for his previous trainers, starting out with Ralph Beckett and then going jumping with Harry Fry. His first start for Owen came on the Flat in July when he finished third at York over a mile and a half, and that set up him nicely for a return to hurdles just eight days later where he bagged one of the big races of the summer jumping programme, the Summer Handicap Hurdle at Market Rasen, when visored for the first time.
Returning to the Flat where he was stepped up two miles for the first time in that sphere, he was well in command through the final two furlongs when beating stablemate Percy Shelley by a length and a quarter at Newmarket last month. Owen runs both horses again here, both having Cesarewitch entries, and High Fibre looks the one to be with again with a 5 lb rise for Newmarket unlikely to prevent another bold bid.
Besieged takes the eye on handicap debut
Rockcliffe Stud’s filly Snow Lantern had a top pedigree, by Frankel out of 1000 Guineas winner Sky Lantern, and she lived up to it by becoming a Group 1 winner herself, going one better than her dam by winning the Falmouth Stakes, as well as finishing placed in the Coronation Stakes (another race won by her dam) and the Sussex Stakes either side. Snow Lantern has since made a promising start to her broodmare career, with her first two foals, a pair of colts by Dubawi, both being winners this year.
Her two-year-old Alfred Wallace won last weekend’s Solario Stakes, his third win of the season having already been successful in listed company, whereas older brother Besieged is evidently a later developer as he didn’t run at all last year and now makes his handicap debut in York’s mile and a quarter contest (15:15) after three runs in maidens in the first half of the year.
After finding one too good at Kempton and Newbury on his first two starts, Besieged got off the mark in no uncertain terms against a weaker field at Salisbury next time as he landed very short odds by no fewer than 14 lengths in heavy ground. An autumn campaign in handicaps has evidently been the plan since then and Besieged brings a wholly unexposed profile to this handicap, with Charlton having the ‘Hot Trainer’ flag.
Listed level looks ideal for Double Rush
Some of the runners in York’s Garrowby Stakes (15:50) wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Sprint Cup at Haydock 24 hours earlier. Indeed, one of them, Regional won that very race three years ago. Haydock could presumably have been an option too for ‘Hot Trainer’ Andrew Balding’s Double Rush as he was last seen contesting the July Cup, but a return to Group 1 company might come later – he’s in the Champions Sprint Stakes next month – and in the meantime he’s been found a winnable opportunity in this listed race which is worth just shy of £40,000 to the winner after all.
Formerly with Charlie Hills, Double Rush began the season still quite lightly raced for a four-year-old which left him with scope for further improvement in handicaps. He did just that, impressing with wins at Newmarket at the Craven and Guineas meetings before going to Royal Ascot where he completed his hat-trick in the Wokingham, beating a huge field from a BHA mark of 105.
Earning a Timeform rating of 118 from the Wokingham, that was on a par with the level of form shown by the principals in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes earlier on the card so Double Rush was fully entitled to a crack at some of the best sprinters in the July Cup. He underperformed at Newmarket but that’s not to say he won’t make more impact at a higher level in future, and heading the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings here, this looks a good chance for him to regain the winning thread.
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