Saturday hosts a packed card of racing with Lingfield holding the Oaks & Derby Trial, Ascot holding the Victoria Cup while Haydock hosts the Class 1 Swinton Handicap and listed Spring Trophy Stakes.
Haydock’s card is great with a mix of jump and flat racing, as Ascot and Lingfield have a fantastic range of contests including Group and listed action.
Danielle
For the Oaks Trial, Danielle is the clear favourite having won last time out by 12 lengths. She was the odds-on favourite and won at a canter beating Cabrera in second and Lady La Fay in third. It’s really difficult to know how good she is on that evidence though with the runners up either not running since or not showing signs of any top ability, to help point towards Danielle being even more special. It’s easy to get carried away with victories like that and there’s always potential from the outsiders of the field, which seem to occur more in this kind of race where there are so many uncertainties and questions with young fillies still being unexposed. None more so than the fact the majority of these runners will be taking on this distance for the first time. Our Golden One galloped away strongly to win on her seasonal debut beating an 84-rated horse Mafnood by five lengths.
But she’s not likely to get soft ground this time out and may be better suited to it. That all being said, it only makes a stronger case for the favourite Danielle, under Kieran Shoemark for the in-form Gosdens.
The Euphrates
Now for the Derby Trial Stakes, Aidan O’Brien trains the favourite Illinois, who will likely have Ryan Moore up.
But it’s a stacked race with the front three not separated by much with another O’Brien horse The Euphrates only at 7/2 so could be ridden by Moore if that’s his choice.
Defiance was just behind Bellum Justum last time out when stepping up to 1m2f for the first time and had a respectable run behind Ghostwriter at Newmarket back in September. But it’s hard to see him win this ahead of Illinois.
Illinois was beaten comfortably on his seasonal debut behind Dallas Star and The Euphrates on heavy ground so it’s hard to back him having been odds-on that day. However, this field isn’t one that really screams top level consistency so one of these will certainly do it, and that looks to be The Euphrates.
Mostabshir & Mums Tipple
Ropey Guest was a 40/1 winner for the tips back in August at York, but he can be a really tough horse to predict.
Last season mostly ran well then poor subsequently for the entire 2023 campaign, that was until his last two races where he was close up in big fields, both at Ascot. He won at York but is yet to win at Ascot and was only 15th in this last year when back from a break, so tough to side with again 11lb higher.
Popmaster might be the top-weight in this race but always runs well at this course but one of the only times he hasn’t done well was in the Victoria Cup in 2022.
Mums Tipple does well here and appeals a lot as an each-way play as he’s down in the weights to strike well here having already ran four times this season. However, this race is made for four and five-year-olds. Mostabshir is having his second run of the season having impressed really well on the all-weather at Kempton on reappearance behind Mount Athos and Mums Tipple. He’s not gone up in the weights and is down from 108 as a three-year-old to run off a mark of 103 here, which is a great chance for the once Group 1 runner to go well and bounce back.
Lark In The Mountain
A popular punt for this weekend already as he’s gone in from 4/1 to 5/2 before the declarations came out but he’s been confirmed by trainer Joseph Patrick O’Brien to be heading to Haydock for the £80,000 prize.
He beat Eagles Reign at Cheltenham Festival’s Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.
Some of the runners up have gone on to win since, even those far back in the field who didn’t turn up on the day. That boosts his chances considerably but it’s far from a certainty which is why he’s not got 2pts attached.
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