DAILY RACING PREVIEW BY ANDY HOLDING
SATURDAY AUGUST 1
3.12 GALWAY
IFIWEREARICHMAN has twice this summer shaped as though two miles is an insufficient test for him nowadays and he rates a strong choice to back up that over a course where he has been successful in the past.
Paul Nolan’s gelding kept on well to finish an honourable third behind flashier stable mate, Sageborough, at Wexford two starts ago and there was plenty to take out of his latest exploits at Bellewstown, when he again came home to good effect in the closing stages.
Towards the rear turning for home, he finished off best of all to get within striking distance of the main players and with the winner and third going on to finish 1-2 in the Galway Hurdle earlier in the week, the form looks solid.
An all-the-way winner at the festival back in 2023, the eight-year-old remains in good form and with the ground drying out in his favour, there is every chance he will see out this sort of trip for the first time.
IFIWEREARICHMAN – 1-point each-way@8-1 (five places)
3.23 NEWMARKET
First time cheekpieces and a drop back to seven furlongs proved to be the key to TRYST when scoring at Yarmouth last time out and with the speed figure making her performance even more impressive, George Boughey’s filly has strong claims in her bid to follow up.
Being by Sottsass, you can understand why connections would have pursued a career over middle distances but in a complete U-turn, they chose to drop her back in drastic fashion at the seaside venue and as events panned out, the decision was totally vindicated.
In a race that contained three track specialists in the shape of Gorgeous Mr George, Dion Baker and Izzy Fast, the three-year-old filly proved way too strong for the trio inside the final furlong of a well-run affair and as her profile suggested, the further she went, the better she looked.
Although yet to race over today’s course (has finished second on the Rowley Mile) and up against several who have, she comes across as having the necessary requirements for the July course and with the main man, Billy Loughnane, on board, the duo make plenty of appeal at the morning odds.
TRYST – 1-point win@9-2
3.35 GOODWOOD
As is often the case, the Wokingham at Royal Ascot will have a large bearing on the outcome of this similar handicap and the two who make the most appeal to fly the flag for the form are FAR ABOVE DREAM and COMPLETELY RANDOM.
The former was slightly worse off of the pair in the big Berkshire sprint, but he didn’t get the clearest of runs at a crucial stage and finishing a close-up fourth was still a creditable effort.
Seemingly a much better horse than last season on the evidence of that performance, his main chances here, however, revolve around his unbeaten record over today’s C&D (3-3) and with connections not hesitating in nominating stall 23 when being pulled of the hat first, hopefully he will be another high number to land this prize in the last decade (8-10 drawn centre to stands side).
Being positioned over towards the far side in stall 11, the latter will be hoping the likes of Stratusnine, Candy, Dark Thirty and Gold Star Hero tow him into the race better than when he was in box 1 last season.
In the circumstances. Harry Charlton’s gelding did about as well as expected to finish eighth, third in his group of 14 towards the far rail, but he is better judged on his barnstorming effort in the Wokingham two starts ago.
Powering through the field from a long way back at halfway, he just failed by a head to collar the very smart Double Rush and a repeat of the same level of form will give him every chance of going one place better.
FAR FROM ABOVE – 1-point each-way@6-1 (six places)
COMPLETELY RANDOM – ½ point each-way@14-1 (six places)
4.45 GOODWOOD
REGENCY ROYAL shaped like the best horse in the race on his debut at Chester 22 days ago and he is fancied to take the sufficient step forward that will allow him to be competitive in this better contest.
On the day, Towelontheterrace put his previous experience to good use by making all the running but there was plenty to like about the way Andrew Balding’s colt came home to good effect after blowing the start and it is also worth noting how green he was inside the final two furlongs, lugging towards the inside rail.
Back in third was a horse who had previously finished runner-up to subsequent Richmond winner, Dr Rascal, on his debut, backing up the view the form has a solid feel and with today’s extra furlong likely to play more into his strengths, the son of Calyx can follow in the footsteps of Imperial Fighter, The Foxes and Spell Master, winners of tis race for the Kinsclere team in recent times.
REGENCY ROYAL – 1-point each-way@15-2