Timeform preview & tips: Highlights on Saturday July 3

The ratings banker

Alpinista – 14:40 Haydock

Sir Mark Prescott’s four-year-old filly Alpinista is the clear top-rated on Timeform adjusted ratings in the Lancashire Oaks. She made a winning return in a four-runner listed contest at Goodwood in April but didn’t have to be at her best when scrambling home by a short head from Makawee at the end of a steadily-run race.

That was Alpinista’s second listed win after her success in a similar event at Salisbury last season, but she ran her best races in defeat last year, notably when runner-up at 33/1 in the Yorkshire Oaks. She was no match for the high-class winner Love but confirmed that improvement when going down to Antonia de Vega in the Princess Royal Stakes at Newmarket where she might well have gone one better had she made her effort sooner. From a family that tends to get better with age, Alpinista should be hard to beat if returning to the best of her three-year-old form.

The big improver

Sir Titus – 16:55 Haydock

Sir Titus is a sprinter on the up and he can progress again to complete a hat-trick for Bryan Smart in this five-furlong handicap for three-year-olds. He had three starts in novice contests on the Tapeta at Newcastle over the winter, winning the last of them in January from another who has done well since, Sound Reason.

In fact, the pair met again when Sir Titus made his handicap debut, which was also his first start on turf, after a five-month break at Redcar at the end of May. In a close finish with Navajo Spring and Sound Reason, both last-time-out winners, Sir Titus improved further and dug deep to emerge just the best after leading in the final furlong. With more to come, he can overcome a 4 lb higher mark and make it three out of three for the year.

The Timeform Flag

Came From The Dark – 13:50 Sandown (Top rated, Horse in focus, Hot trainer)

Ed Walker’s horses are running well, earning him the ‘Hot trainer’ flag, with nine winners last month and another already on the board in July. His smart sprinter Came From The Dark, who tops the Timeform adjusted ratings, can add to that tally in this Group 3 contest over five furlongs.

While all four of his career wins so far have come in handicaps, the most recent of those at Newbury in April where he beat the smart pair Garrus and King’s Lynn, Came From The Dark showed he belongs in pattern company these days when looking an unlucky loser in the Palace House Stakes at Newmarket last time, earning him the ‘Horse in focus’ flag. Came From The Dark failed by just a neck to catch the winner Lazuli after meeting trouble at a crucial stage and has good prospects of turning the tables on the Godolphin gelding on the same terms here. Sandown’s stiff five furlongs should suit his run style ideally as he tends to finish strongly from off the pace.

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