Group Three Earl Of Sefton Guide 2022

It’s that time of the year again where the blue of Godolphin, Charlie Appleby and Will Buick mop up in these sorts of races with their talented squad of horses.

Their Dubawi gelding is the highest rated horse in the field with a BHA rating of 117, only 1lb above Catch Twentytwo, who had some decent form in South Africa before being purchased by the Chapple-Hyam team.

The Godolphin horse was an impressive 3 length winner of the Group 2 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket in 2020, then went on to essentially contest in a few top Group races before winning the Group 3 Craven Stakes on this meeting last season, then went on to contest in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, where he finished a short head second to top miler Poetic Flare.

He has some brilliant form at Newmarket with form figures of 11123 at the HQ of flat racing.

He goes well fresh, and should the yard have him primed for this, he will be incredibly hard to beat in this, before hopefully going onto bigger and better things this season.

Fantastic form at Newmarket and goes well fresh, comes from a top yard and has some very good form at this trip, very much the one to beat for top connections.

One of the more experienced runners in the field for Andrew Balding, looks to be slightly more exposed than the main protagonists in this field.

He was last seen winning a class 2 contest at Newmarket last season, beating Maydanny by 2 and a half lengths, with his other two wins coming at this course again in June 2020 and on his debut back in October 2018.

Like the other two main runners in this field has some brilliant form at this track and will appreciate the trip a bit more than the others, but he is yet to win a Group contest making him slightly more vulnerable against some group winners.

Conditions will suit and he does go well fresh, as his only wins in a season do tend to be his first outing. David Probert takes the ride, and he has had a fantastic winter leading the way on the all-weather jockeys’ championships.

Has won at this track three times in the past and does run well on his first run, which tends to be at this course, isn’t quite a group performer though which the main two in the market are, so would need to step his form up to another level to win this, but he could get his head in front if the others need a run.

Roger Varian had a brilliant season last time, and he looks to kick start the 2022 season with a winner in this Group 3 contest at HQ, but his runner Father Of Jazz does look slightly up against it here, with his form not getting anywhere close to the main protagonists in the market.

He is a three-time winner in his career looking like a potentially brilliant horse, but they were both on the all-weather of Wolverhampton, Lingfield and Chelmsford, back in late 2020 and 2021.

He has the form figures of 3-9-9-5-4 since running on the turf, so not much to shout home about, with this 5yo looking slightly more exposed and a year older compared to his other rivals.

Should this race completely fall apart and the other horses desperately needing the run, he will be there staying on at the finish.

Has only won on the all-weather and has slightly struggled on the turf last season, a 5yo who is slightly more exposed than the other runners, really needed to step his form up to another level to win this against some nicely bred horses.

Another horse who looks slightly up against it form wise, with only three wins in 18 runs to his name, those being a class 4 on the all-weather at Newcastle in 2021, on at Carlisle in a class 4 contest in June of last year and more recently at Ayr in a class 2 contest last September.

He is yet to contest in any Group races so far in his career, so lining up in this does look slightly out of reach but he will appreciate the conditions and trip so could outrun his odds.

But he is probably best watched in this pretty red hot contest.

The Michael Dod’s stable star has been a brilliant servant to the yard, winning 5 out of his 15 races under rules, including a listed contest at Pontefract last July. He looked a nice horse early on in his career when winning four races in just five runs back in 2020 but doesn’t look to have the group form some of these have, making this contest look slightly out of reach for him.

He would have to step up massively on seasonal debut to land this contest. Five-time winner in his career and put in a career best performance to win Listed contest at Pontefract last July, will need to step up his form however to win this, could do well to place.

Frankie Dettori is set to have his first rides of the season in the UK on Tuesday, as he rides John and Thady Gosden's Group 3 winner Megallan, who like the favourite tends to run well at Newmarket.

With the form figures of 1-4 at the HQ of flat racing, and again another horse who tends to go very well fresh, he could be the one to serve it up to the market leader.

His form last season was a mixed bag, winning Listed and Group 3 contests before going on to run in Group 2 and 1 race, he was running well without winning.

His Group 3 win was at Salisbury in the Sovereign Stakes, where he brushed aside Sir Busker by 1 length, after staying on well in the final furlong to hold off his rival’s late challenge.

That was at 1 mile, so the slight step up to 1m1f in this will suit this horse. The favourite looks quite hard to beat in this, but should he need the run then Megallan could pick up the pieces, with the ever-brilliant Frankie Dettori onboard who has ridden many of winners at Newmarket.

Has some good form figures at Newmarket and was a Group 3 winner last season, should the favourite not be primed for this he could pick up the pieces, stepping up to this 1 mile 1 furlong trip for the first time, but would need to slightly step his form up to another level to beat this Group 1 performer.

Now I’m not going to sit here and say I’m an expert on racing from all around the world, as this horse has been brought over from South Africa for a new yard in Jane Chapple-Hyam, but the one thing I can tell from his form is that he is very consistent and has been performing at the highest level in South Africa.

His last two runs there were in Group 1’s, and he did finish a close up second on both of them, so he literally could be anything.

One thing for sure is that he will appreciate the better conditions and is a Group 3 winner over his previous trainer Paul Peter. It's hard to gauge his form compared to the other runners in this, but it's clear to see he is talented and it's exciting to see a horse imported from other countries.

Formerly trained in South Africa by Paul Peter, where he finished a close up second in his last two runs, which were Grade/Group 1’s, only beaten by half a length and a neck.

It is hard to gauge his form against our horses, he could be anything on these good ground conditions that will suit, he could be one to keep an eye on when the really fast ground comes into play.