Harzand was ultimately an emphatic winner of the Investec Derby on Saturday and the Irish colt is 6/1 joint favourite at BetVictor with impressive Coronation Cup winner Postponed, although the 3-year-old weight-for-age allowance and respective times of their Epsom wins suggests to me that the Derby winner is the one to be with at Chantilly (Longchamp closed for refurbishments) in October.
Fast ground is the order of the day at Pontefract this evening and there is a cracking 6f handicap for three-year-olds; Aleef carted his way to the front before easily scoring at Lingfield (all-weather) last month but he will have to settle better if he is to follow up and his draw in stall nine is less than ideal.
He’s A Dreamer would be interesting if the first time hood works the oracle but Van Gerwen (7.45) wouldn’t be the first horse not suited to the Ripon undulation and he is given another chance with regular pilot David Allan reunited.
In the 10f Handicap Sepal (8.15) is bred to appreciate this evening’s step up in trip for Charlie Hills; the filly won over a mile at Leicester as a juvenile and didn’t run a bad race on her reappearance at Chelmsford over a mile suggesting this trip would see her in a better light.
At Windsor Sparring (7.30) has won his last four starts including over C&D last April and he has already shown he can go well fresh when overcoming a seven-month absence when scoring at Wolverhampton back in November; William Buick takes the ride and I would be disappointed if he didn’t go very close for Charlie Appleby whose last four runners, at the time of writing, have either finished first or second.
I’m looking forward to the opening 6f maiden and the debut of the beautifully bred Bin Battuta (6.00) for Saeed Bin Suroor; the handler has had six winners from his ten juvenile runners to date and this son of Dubawi is a half-brother to champion sprinter Dream Ahead.
It is fascinating to see Stellar Notion (4.20) have his first start for Henry de Bromhead at Listowel; the horse is still only eight and things never worked out for him at Paul Nicholls earlier in the season when he was well supported in both starts. I would love to see Robbie Power let him bowl along up front and a good run might put him in line for the Galway Plate next month.
The finale is a cracking bumper and Joseph O’Brien, who has seven runners across both tracks on his first day as a licensed trainer, saddles Oathkeeper (5.20) ridden by his sister Sarah; there are four previous winners in the field including the selection and the Willie Mullins-trained Bel Sasa who was easily brushed aside at Limerick when last seen in May but can give the selection plenty to think about over this marathon 2m 4f trip.
At the Derby winning combination of Pat Smullen and Dermot Weld team up with Kitten Loves Roses blinkered for the first time in the valuable mile maiden but preference is for the Aidan O’Brien trained Schubert (3.35) ridden by his son Donnacha stepped back up to a mile having looked one-paced when runner up over 7f in his last two starts.
It could be a red-letter day for the O’Brien family if the sister-brother combination of Oathkeeper and father-son combination of Schubert oblige on what is a Bank Holiday in Ireland.
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