Matt Brocklebank looks over the weekend's entries and picks out three horses of considerable interest.
CONTACTO (Andrew Balding)
Haydock's mile and three-quarter Betfair Plays Different Handicap contains several freshly-gelded sorts who are on retrieval missions but Contacto looked relatively straightforward when winning two of his three starts in 12-furlong handicaps earlier in the year and, seeing as he's entered in the Cesarewitch next month, seems certain to appreciate more of a test here.
He's been off since the end of May but the form of his Chester second was franked and the narrow Hamilton victory over Victory Shout is looking even better in light of that one's subsequent victory off 3lb higher in early-July so Andrew Balding's horse might be able to cope with a 5lb rise himself.
His half-sister Alumna went close in a Group One a decade ago, while John Gosden trained a half-brother (Harrovian) who ran in some high-profile races around the world and Contacto does look to possess enough quality to remain highly competitive off marks in the mid-to-high-80s.
Balding has won this race twice in the past decade too, one of which was returning from a mid-summer break like this horse, so the signs are all pretty positive.
JAMES WEBB (Sir Michael Stoute)
Ascot’s 10-furlong handicap on Saturday is restricted to horses who have won no more than one race and while I’ll be keeping a close eye on the Ralph Beckett-trained Whiskey Pete, especially if he’s declared in headgear and/or there is rain around, James Webb looks a real standout in this.
The Flaxman-owned son of American Pharoah has plenty about him in terms of physique and I just think he’s taken a while to fill that considerable frame, having not made the track at all last year and gradually found his stride as he's gained experience this summer.
The Redcar second to Midnight Storm in June, when still as green as grass, hinted at what was to come and although a trip to Pontefract back-fired the following month (unsuited by the undulations, potentially), he won with plenty to spare when finally opening his account in a Yarmouth maiden last month.
He beat the ‘right horses’ there in 10/11 favourite Northern Ruler and the Gosden-trained Shader, looking a lot more professional in the process having got away quickly from the stalls and dictated matters on the front end.
The handicapper hasn’t gone overboard in bumping him up 4lb to 88 for that maiden triumph and he’s bred to carry on improving with time so this event looks tailormade for him now the penny has clearly dropped (latest replay below).
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ANNAF (Mick Appleby)
Annaf is a fascinating contender on his return to the UK in Saturday’s Betfair Sprint Cup. Mick Appleby’s horse ran in a couple of Group Ones last year without success but performed with credit on each occasion, finishing third behind Bradsell in the King’s Stand Stakes at the Royal meeting before not getting a clear shot at things in the Sprint Cup 12 months ago.
He didn’t look back after that luckless effort in the north west, winning the Portland at Doncaster off a BHA mark of 103 and following up in the Group 3 Bengough Stakes back at Ascot. Two runs in February yielded a smart second when trying to concede 5lb to Diligent Harry in a Listed event at Lingfield and a huge payday when landing the Group 2 Turf Sprint (7f) out in Saudia Arabia.
The plan was to go from there to Dubai for the Al Quoz Sprint on World Cup night but he picked up a respiratory infection while travelling and has clearly been given plenty of time to recover.
It’ll be a phenomenal training feat if Appleby can get him back to his peak to win this first time out for six months, but the strong-travelling son of Muhaarar tends to go very well fresh and he’s pretty versatile ground-wise too so could be a touch over-priced around the 16/1 mark.
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