The ratings banker
Cloudy Dawn – 16:45 Haydock
The handicapper has taken a big chance by giving CLOUDY DAWN an opening mark of 80 and she can prove far too good for some rivals who are already starting to look exposed. Cloudy Dawn made an excellent start to her career when scoring over this course and distance on her only outing as a juvenile, and she had little problem landing short odds on her return at Lingfield two weeks ago, impressing with her strength at the finish in that six-furlong novice. Even on that form a mark of 80 significantly underplays Cloudy Dawn's ability, but this well-bred filly - who is in excellent hands with William Haggas - has shown nothing like the limit of her ability after only two starts. She is 5lb clear of her rivals on Timeform ratings and has the 'p' to suggest that improvement is expected, while she has also shown her effectiveness on testing ground, so she should take plenty of beating on her handicap debut.
The big improver
Dragon Symbol – 15:35 Haydock
DRAGON SYMBOL’s career is less than three months old but he’s improving at a rate of knots and is now unbeaten in four starts for Archie Watson. His first three outings all came on the all-weather and he won each of them from the front in clear-cut fashion. He was particularly impressive when making a mockery of his opening mark in a handicap when storming to a five-length success at Kempton. That followed wins in novice events at Wolverhampton and Newcastle. Earlier this month he completed his four-timer on his first start on turf in a useful minor event at Hamilton. Neither the switch to turf nor the drop to five furlongs for the first time caused him any problems as he forged clear to beat Significantly in fine style by three and a quarter lengths. With entries in the upcoming Group 1 sprints, Dragon Symbol is an exciting prospect and looks more than ready for this step up to pattern company in the Sandy Lane Stakes. He can extend his unbeaten record if coping with the testing ground.
The Timeform flag (Hot trainer, top rated)
Ajyaall - 14:05 York
Hunt Cup entry AJYAALL is much the least exposed among the ten runners in York’s seven-furlong handicap which opens their card and looks interesting at the bottom of the weights as he’s not only top on adjusted ratings but has the ‘p’ symbol attached to his rating indicating that he is open to further improvement. In addition, his trainer William Haggas has the ‘hot trainer’ flag as the stable is in good form and registered a treble across three different meetings last Saturday. An expensive breeze-up purchase by Kingman, Ajyaall won two of his three starts in novice events last term, making a winning debut at Haydock and putting up a useful effort to defy a penalty at Wolverhampton on his final start when stepping up to an extended mile. He probably should have won at Wolverhampton in between when finishing strongly for second after losing ground when rearing leaving the stalls. Ajyaall seemed to be getting the hang of things by the end of last season after being green to begin with, and has also been gelded since then, so he’s entitled to make further progress this year.
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