The Western meeting at Ayr got under way today as it builds up to the Gold Cup on Saturday. The Bronze Cup looks virtually impossible to solve on Friday but it may be worth noting for clues regarding the draw.
Newbury also stages a good card on Friday with some promising two-year-olds on show. Foreign Diplomat ran well on his debut when third to White Lake at York. I was disappointed that the winner was beaten at Doncaster last week but it still looked a decent maiden and Foreign Diplomat should get us off to a winning start at 1.50.
High Church did this column a favour when winning impressively at Leicester last time out. He had previously been given too much to do when beaten at Salisbury and must have a good chance of defying a 6lbs penalty in the 2.25 race. Saarrem looked very slow when beaten at Lingfield but broke his maiden in the blinkers for John Gosden last time. He could give High Church most to do if the blinkers prove as effective on Friday.
The Haynes, Hanson & Clark Stakes will forever be linked with the great Shergar who won it in 1980. Other previous winners include Henbit, Rainbow Quest and Nayef. I very much doubt that there is anything of that class on show this season but Gibeon did nothing wrong when beating stable mate Acaster Malbis on his debut and is taken to follow up.
There are some nice fillies in the 4.05 race with Marsh Hawk out to recoup losses after being collared on the line at Salisbury last time. She had won by seven lengths on her debut and steps back up in trip. Timba could be the main threat after winning nicely on her debut at Goodwood. Yodelling is difficult to assess after winning a three-runner affair at Kempton and Crystal Zvezda could be anything from the Sir Michael Stoute stable.
Our final tip of the day is for Absolutely So in the Listed seven-furlong race at 4.40. He was a costly failure in the Wokingham earlier in the season but has since shown that he is better at this trip by finishing second at Newmarket and winning at York. He holds Glen Moss on that evidence and a bigger danger may be Safety Check. He looked beaten last time at Ascot but somehow got back up to win. Having supported him in that race I am reluctant to desert him here but Absolutely So just gets the vote.
Foreign Diplomat 1.50 Newbury @Betfair
High Church 2.25 Newbury @9-4 Coral
Gibeon 3.35 Newbury @5-2 Ladbrokes
Marsh Hawk 4.05 Newbury @11-8 Bet365
Absolutely So 4.40 Newbury @11-4 Bet365
