18:40 Windsor

Saturday 26 August 2017

All17:1017:4018:1018:4019:1019:40

Bet & Watch At sunbets.co.uk Winter Hill Stakes (Group 3)

Off time: 18:40 | Winning time: 2m 4.25s

(3)

Autocratic¹⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 9-4| J: Ted Durcan| T: Sir Michael Stoute| OR: 112| D

6/1

Standout effort came at Sandown in May, winning Group 3 over this trip on good to firm ground. Must be forgiven recent Haydock run, where soft ground may not have suited, and has decent claims here if bouncing back.

Form: 201-617

(7)

Fabricate^p²⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 9-1| J: G Mosse| T: M L W Bell| OR: 106| D

11/2

Excellent effort in Goodwood handicap this month over this trip on good ground, just held but awarded race by the stewards. That was a career-best and probably has to better it again to win here.

Form: 1-34461

(8)

Spark Plug^p⁵⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 9-1| J: J Fortune| T: B J Meehan| OR: 110| D

7/2

Consistent gelding was rewarded with Sandown win last month (1m2f, good to firm), comes here in confident mood and should be able to post another strong effort.

Form: 41-3251

(1)

Chain Of Daisies⁵⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 8-12| J: F Sweeney| T: H Candy| OR: 107| BF| CD

10/3

Got the better of this week's Juddmonte winner Ulysses to land this prize 12 months ago, below par in two runs this year but presumably this has been the long-term target and respected again.

Form: 7511-62

(5)

Frankuus^b¹⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 8-11| J: J Fanning| T: C & M Johnston| OR: 112| D

3/1

A son of Frankel, he stepped up on his previous work when winning the Group 3 Rose of Lancaster Stakes at Haydock a fortnight ago. Had his own way in front then, should go well again with trainer boasting 21% strike rate lately.

Form: 348421

(6)

Best Of Days^t³⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 8-8| J: Oisin Murphy| T: H Palmer| OR: 110| BF

6/1

Best form is over shorter trips and no match for What About Carlo attempting this journey at Newbury in Listed company last month. Has plenty to prove in this field.

Form: 121-03

Non-Runners

(2)

Ayrad¹⁴

Weight: 9-1| Age: 6

T: H & R Charlton J: Andrea Atzeni

(4)

What About Carlo²⁵

Weight: 9-1| Age: 6

T: Eve Johnson Houghton J: Charles Bishop

Forecasts

Frankuus (3/1), Chain Of Daisies (10/3), Spark Plug (7/2), Fabricate (11/2), Best Of Days (6/1), Autocratic (6/1), Ayrad (7/1), What About Carlo (8/1)

Last year's winner Chain Of Daisies is back for another tilt but it is hard to be confident after two underwhelming runs this term, despite the suspicion this will have been the target. Autocratic produced a fine effort to win the Brigadier Gerrard at Sandown in May and can be expected to go well here if soft ground was the key factor in his Haydock no-show last time. Goodwood winner Fabricate should give his running while Frankuus produced his best effort to date last time at Haydock and could be dangerous on the front end. SPARK PLUG however had a couple of these behind at Sandown last month and deserves a shot at this prize, he can take the spoils assuming the ground remains decent.