Architect Friday Racing Tips

This is an open affair in which I’m going to back both RAATEA (best price 8-1) and HYDE PARK BARRACKS (best price 16-1), each-way, getting three places. 

The firstly-named RAATEA has made a positive start for his new establishment and can easily be excused for his rare below-par effort at York when slowly away from the gates. That said, he’s proved a reliable source on the all-weather and bounced back to something near his best when third at Newcastle in June. He ran well on his only previous visit to this venue last year, where he finished a creditable close-up third in a class-3 affair and would probably have beaten both the first and second with a clear passage, too. The front pair are now rated 100 and 92 so a mark of 84 here looks attractive on the balance of that form. He raced keenly throughout and failed to get a clear run a furlong out until running on strongly to narrowly miss out on the spoils by a whisker. This son of Invincible Spirit returns to the scene of that near-miss from the exact same mark and, at the forecast prices, he looks the value to at least hit the frame.

As mentioned at the start of today’s column, I am happy to go double-handed in this event with the alternative vote in favour of HYDE PARK BARRACKS, who has the credentials to acquit himself well on his first outing for the in-form Michael Wigham stable. 

He looks to have been totally dismissed by the bookmakers judged on his odds, but there’s a decent chance he will exceed those expectations on his belated return to action and, although well-held the last two times, he’s lurking on a dangerous mark. He had shown useful form as a two-year-old, when trained by Aidan O’Brien, including when highly-tried in the Windsor Castle Stakes, finishing midfield. Although yet to get himself in the winner’s enclosure at any stage of his career thus far, this son of Air Force Blue has performed far better than the literal beaten margins have indicated of late in some decent-looking handicaps. There has to be an element of risk attached to his profile based on the fact we haven’t seen him since October last year, 294 days to be precise, but this isn’t the strongest of handicaps and the booking of Josephine Gordon is no negative, either. Josephine is an excellent rider, who is capable at getting a tune out of those frustrating sorts who haven’t succeeded in the past, so her mount is fancied to go well on his return to the track for his new in-form yard, who clearly makes more appeal than the recent form-book would indicate in this wide-open race. 

The Curragh host an excellent card later on, with one of the feature events being the Fitzdares Royal Whip Stakes, and I really like the claims of KALAPOUR (NAP) (best price 14-1), who is seemingly the most overpriced horse with a chance of winning this race for the Michael Halford and Ronan Whelan combination. 

This four-year-old showed plenty of promise on his first outing, when fourth over a mile at Dundalk, and comfortably got off the mark at Down Royal when easily giving weight and a fair beating Grade 1 winning hurdler Stormy Ireland by over two-lengths on return to action. He was given too much to do when fourth in a listed event next time, where he was held-up at the rear, travelled well and kept on strongly to be gaining on the eventual front three in the latter stages. He then improved last time out, where he was given an almost impossible task when forced to lump the welter-burden of 10-7 but, again, his stamina was firmly in evidence as he managed to get within two-lengths of the useful winner, La Petite Coco, who advertised the form by winning a Group 3 over the weekend. This is a stiffer test of his credentials, but that doesn’t diminish the interest, as he will evidently find it easier carrying less-weight and this might have been the plan for sometime. He’s improving all the time and, with further improvement on the cards, this son of War Command looks programmed for a positive showing at this higher level and rates decent each-way value with four places widely on offer. 

GLENN COCO (best price 16-1) wasn’t on his game when last sighted, but has run well at this venue more often than not, particularly from higher-marks and, being seven-pounds lower than when last successful with the addition of an excellent claimer taking off even further weight, Stuart Williams charge is fancied to end his long losing run in this ordinary race for the grade. 

We have to factor into account that all of his best performances in the past year or so have been at Chelmsford, but he’s much lower in the weights than when last successful on the turf, which came in a higher-graded affair. To further strengthen his positive claims, his trainer is in really good form and boasts a healthy strike-rate at this venue, so with plenty of positives to take into consideration besides his losing run that has mounted up, this seven-year-old might be able to capitalise on this winnable opportunity. 

MAXI BOY (best price 9-2) has the potential to outclass this field given he’s the only of these, realistically, that has established himself at Group 2/3 company with a lightly-raced profile to his name and got back on track when narrowly beaten here last weekend, the presence of William Buick in the plate with the return to a mile could be the solution for him returning to the winner’s enclosure. 

The four-year-old son of Oasis Dream, trained by Michael Bell, looked seriously promising back in 2019 as a two-year-old, where he won on debut at Yarmouth before tackling the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot in which he was sent off just 14/1 behind some high-class individuals. He performed with credit, staying on to good effect and finishing eighth of 17-runners. To upgrade his performance even further, the first ten home that day, with the exception of Michael Bell’s charge, are all now rated 100 plus and the race itself has produced multiple Group winners, including Group 1 winner Golden Horde. He then went on to finish an excellent third in the Group 2 Superlative Stakes at this track, where he only found Mystery Power (105) and Juan Elcano (108) too strong at the finish. Unfortunately, he didn’t match that form in three subsequent outings but went close to beating a useful prospect here last weekend, who looks pattern-class bound and, given the assessor has left his mark unaltered and connections are persevering with him over a mile again, this lightly-raced well-handicapped individual might be able open his account for the season.