Haydock Saturday Preview - 25/05/19

The first race of the day at Haydock comes in the Class 2 Handicap over a marathon distance of 2 miles and we have gone for the Mark Johnston trained Lucky Deal to get us off to a nice start.

This four year old has produced all of his best performances on quick ground and opposed to that has been poor in soft conditions giving him great scope on Saturday with firm ground.

Stamina should not be an issue running well over this distance and slightly further in the past and when last running on good ground he finished second behind a stablemate who has since gone on to win again.

The second race of the day is the Class 2 Amix Silver Bowl Handicap over 1 mile and we have sided with the William Haggas trained Awe.

This three year old colt looks a very progressive youngster only racing four times but showing plenty of ability in all of them especially his seasonal return.

He finished a much improved second on his handicap debut at Ascot and stepping up an extra furlong could bring even more out of him.

The first Group race of the day comes over six furlongs in the Sandy Lane Stakes and we have gone for John Gosden's superstar Calyx to continue his unbeaten run.

He had two runs last season before getting injured with his win in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes being his highlight and really putting him on the map as a serious sprinter over six furlongs.

This season he made his seasonal return at the same track in the Commonwealth Cup Trial and he blitzed the Group 3 field with ease to show that punters were right to get excited about this colt.

This should be a routine victory for the three year old and another run under his belt before his first Group 1 outing at the Royal meeting.

The other feature of the day at Haydock is the Group 2 Temple stakes over five furlongs and it hosts some of the best sprinters around.

We have gone with the highly rated Charles Hills trained Battaash. He is one of the fastest animals over five furlongs in the world but you have to catch him on his day with sometimes him being very expensive to follow.

However, saying that he is a high class, pacy athlete who was won some very smart races, including this one last year on his seasonal debut showing that he goes well fresh.

His stand out performance last season was at Goodwood in the Group 2 King George Qatar Stakes where he completely dominated the field giving one of the runs of the festival.

If he was to produce that he would surely get off the mark for the season but should run a good race and is the one to beat on ratings.

The next contest of the day is the Listed race over six furlongs and we have gone for the the Hugo Palmer trained Heavenly Holly who holds plenty of potential.

This four year old filly has three wins in her last four races and on her seasonal debut she gave a superb front running performance at Lingfield to score nicely on all weather championship today.

She is dropping down to a furlong for the first time in her career but with her showing plenty of speed last time out this should not be a worry and it would not be a surprise to see her go well again.

The penultimate race of the day at Haydock comes in the Class 3 Amix Handicap and in this middle distance contest we have gone with Sir Ron Priestly to bring home the spoils.

This Mark Johnston trained three year old is a very unexposed colt who on his three outings has picked himself up a nice form line with a good second and one win.

The win came at Ripon over a similar distance but today he is stepping up in Class but from the way he won on his last run he has potential to improve.

The final selection of the meeting at Haydock comes in the Armstrong Family Handicap and to finish the day we have gone with the Tom Dascombe trained Finniston Farm.

This four year old gelding finished a smart fifth on this card last year in the Silver Bowl Handicap but before that was 2-2 at Haydock and hopefully he can add to that again.

He is the top weight in the field but has won off a higher mark than this in the past and should go well for successful jockey and trainer partnership.