20:30 Haydock

Friday 5 July 2019

All17:5018:2018:5519:2520:0020:3021:00

racingtv.com Handicap

Off time: 20:33 | Winning time: 1m 42.28s

(3)

Reputation⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 10-6| J: Barry McHugh| T: Mrs R Carr| OR: 96

6/1

In excellent fettle in competitive Class 2 handicaps (6f-7f); rattled home to finish an unlucky ½L second to Land Of Legends at Newmarket (7f, July) last week; hasn't run over 1m since his juvenile days; has obvious claims despite top-weight.

Form: 8-18442

(2)

Rufus King¹⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 10-0| J: F Norton| T: C & M Johnston| OR: 90| D

13/2

Has won from much higher marks in the past (6f-1m) and there is a school of thought that he is steadily working back to form; wasn't beaten far (fourth) over 1m2f in a Class 3 AW handicap at Chelmsford a fortnight ago.

Form: 009394

(4)

Certain Lad¹⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 9-11| J: Callum Shepherd| T: M R Channon| OR: 96| C| D

7/2

Won three-times as a juvenile, including in a 1m Listed contest at Lyon Parilly (France) last September; his course form figures read 134; 2lb lower than when finishing in mid-division in the Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot (1m) latest.

Form: 16-5640

(6)

Arcanada^p¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 9-10| J: Jane Elliott⁽³⁾| T: Tom Dascombe| OR: 86| CD

10/1

Finally took advantage of a falling handicap mark when recovering from an early stumble to win by ½L over C&D 13 days ago; 4lb higher which in the grand scheme of things is neither here nor there; stablemate of Calder Prince.

Form: 490901

(1)

Calder Prince¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 9-3| J: R Kingscote| T: Tom Dascombe| OR: 79| CD

7/1

A Haydock regular, and dual course winner who can be considered to be racing from a perfectly winnable mark; that said, he has plenty of work to do with stablemate Arcanada based upon their clash over C&D 13 days ago.

Form: 49-0387

(7)

Ambient²³

Age: 4| Weight: 9-0| J: Seamus Cronin⁽⁵⁾| T: M Moubarak| OR: 76

16/1

27-race maiden who has continued to go close to shedding that unwanted status despite a recent switch of trainers; the chances are that he'll find this Class 3 contest beyond the scope of his capabilities.

Form: 323202

(5)

Absolutio^h²⁰

Age: 3| Weight: 8-12| J: B A Curtis| T: K R Burke| OR: 83| D

9/2

Front-running 3yo who has progressed quickly since winning a 7f Southwell novice last December; raced far too freely in a competitive Class 3 handicap at Sandown (1m1f) three weeks ago; has a squeak if able to curb his enthusiasm a fraction.

Form: 601-134

(8)

Ginger Fox^p⁷

Age: 3| Weight: 8-7| J: P Hanagan| T: Ian Williams| OR: 78

4/1

Continues in a solid spell of form, but has unfortunately found one too good in each of his last two Doncaster starts (1m); 2lb higher than when beaten 1½L by Global Gift latest; reliable.

Form: 402422

Forecasts

Certain Lad (7/2), Ginger Fox (4/1), Absolutio (9/2), Reputation (6/1), Rufus King (13/2), Calder Prince (7/1), Arcanada (10/1), Ambient (16/1)

An open Class 3 handicap which features the recent C&D winner Arcanada who is still reasonably well handicapped despite a 4lb rise and should once more have the measure of his stablemate Calder Prince. The keen Absolutio could figure prominently if curbing his enthusiastic tendencies just a fraction, while the top-weight Reputation sports an obvious chance after a power-packed finish over 7f at Newmarket last week. However, with the sneaking suspicion that a revival is on the cards for the admirable RUFUS KING, we'll chance our arm on the Johnston-trained runner who regularly competed from marks in the 100's during the course of 2018 (is rated 90 today).