Two winners out of two at Lingfield on Wednesday and a non-runner gave Betcirca followers another winning day. There is some decent turf action on Thursday at Salisbury and Haydock and I’ve picked out three horses to follow.
The nursery at Salisbury is an intriguing contest with all-weather winner Faraajh running under a 6lbs penalty. James Tate has decided to run her before she is reassessed by the handicap after sluicing up by five lengths at Wolverhampton. It can be a risky business backing all-weather form on the turf but she was always travelling best that day and is a definite contender here.
However, I am going to side with the unbeaten Rosalie Bonheur who has already been the subject of some big bets. She only won by a head on her debut at Ripon but a line through the runner-up suggests that she may have been let in lightly on her handicap debut. The front two pulled a long way clear of the third and further improvement is anticipated.
There is a cracking field of fillies set to line up for the Group 3 Dick Poole Stakes at 4.20. Having tipped Bronze Maquette at 10-1 at Newbury last time, I am reluctant to let her go unbacked here. She was dropping back to five furlongs that day but the softer ground helped her and she pounced late under a typical Jimmy Fortune drive.
The one that could prove too smart for her here is Richard Hannon’s Marsh Hawk. She made her debut at Newmarket and made all the running to win by seven lengths. That doesn’t happen all that often at HQ so she simply has to be above average.
The feature event at Haydock is the Duke of Lancasters Regiment Cup Handicap at 4.40. The one I like here is Luca Cumani’s Kikonga who is a decent middle distance filly. On her latest start she was attempting to concede 17lbs to the William Haggas-trained Arabian Comet and went down by a length.
Arabian Comet has since been a close second in a Group 3 at Goodwood and a Listed race at York and is now officially rated 99. By my reckoning, that makes Kikonga quite nicely treated off 91 here and I’m further encouraged by the drying ground. She has won with cut in the ground earlier in her career but wouldn’t have enjoyed testing conditions.
Kikonga 4.40 Haydock @9-2 Bet365
Rosalie Bonheur 2.40 Salisbury @7-2 Paddy Power
Marsh Hawk 4.20 Salisbury @5-2 Paddy Power
Betfair:
Bet on Henrik Stenson to become the BMW PGA Championship Winner.
Paddypower:
Back Australia to take the Ashes home with them.
Betway:
Back Rafael Nadal to become the Mens French Open Winner.
Coral:
Back One For Arthur to win the Grand National.
Bet365:
Back Mexico to win the Confederations Cup.
