Architect Saturday Racing Tips

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EILEENDOVER (best price 9-2) looked hugely exciting when claiming three easy victories in bumpers and, despite failing to add to that tally in three starts on the flat since, she’s offered enough to suggest she is capable of being heavily involved in the outcome on handicap debut here. 

She will make her handicap debut off a potentially lenient mark and shaped better than the finishing position indicated when fifth in a listed event at this course four weeks ago. Her second at Haydock, earlier in the season, was a cracking effort considering she was conceding so much weight to the winner, Yes Yes, who is now rated 90. The third, Thousand Oaks, has bolted up since to advertise the form and Pam Sly’s smart filly has been let in here lightly off 92. I can envisage this longer trip yielding improvement and, now eased in grade with conditions to suit, she appeals most at the expected prices with more to come under Shane Kelly.

AJYAALL (best price 11-4) won two of his three starts last term and caught the eye when fifth of 17 in a strong-looking handicap at York last month despite stumbling at the start and racing keenly throughout and, with more to offer, he has more than enough ability to figure if things go his way, representing a yard who has won two of the last four runnings. 

His form is working out well, especially his fifth last time, where nothing went right for him but was only beaten a couple of lengths and this is a more realistic event. He will face a dangerous opponent in the shape of Aratus, but he looks bound to go close with improvement anticipated in this smaller-field scenario, while Tom Marquand back in the plate who is 1-1 when riding this son of Kingman. His trainer is in good form, his jockey is in good form so there’s little to disprove the theory of him showing his capabilities at the Berkshire venue. 

This looks competitive, but MYTHMAKER (best price 18-1) could get his own way out in front or, at the very least, track the pace from a nice slot in nineteen as he remains well-handicapped to run a big race in a race of this calibre with five places on offer. 

Bryan Smart’s nine-year-old hasn’t won since 2018 but it’s a testament to his trainer that he’s kept this reliable sprinter in good form year after year, including this term despite having no success. He fared well behind Citron Major at York last time and had rattled the crossbar in three runs prior to that outing, albeit all on the artificial or all-weather surface. He has saved his best form for good ground over six-furlongs, with the last of his wins coming off a mark of 100. He’s fallen a long way down in the weights since, but he’s a good horse on his day, who was rated as high as 105 in his prime and it seems like connections have targeted him at this race, too. An interesting claimer, Gianluca Sanna, who takes off a valuable seven-pounds, has been booked to ride and this reliable veteran actually finished a close-up seventh in the main event of this race five years ago from a much higher mark so the track won’t be an issue, either. He’s on a long losing run of seventeen, but he makes plenty of each-way appeal to at least hit the frame with the extra places on offer.

This looks an exceptional renewal of the feature race on the card, the Hungerford Stakes. NJORD (best price 12-1) didn’t appear to handle the soft ground over a mile when favourite at the Galway festival, but his placed efforts in a pair of Group events prior to that outing would certainly bring him into the equation here. 

I was close to putting up D’Bai but on a strict reading through Glorious Journey, preference is for the Jessica Harrington-trained Gelding, who was unlucky to finish second in the Group 3 Betway John Of Gaunt Stakes at Haydock behind Kinross, where he was held up off the pace in last pair and was making swift headway until getting squeezed for room at the furlong pole, unlike the Ralph Beckett’s charge, who had a dream run through the field. Nevertheless, he stayed on strongly once in the clear to only be beaten a length and that form has been strongly advertised by the winner, who followed-up in the Lennox Stakes at Goodwood. This consistent five-year-old then produced a new career-best when chasing home the high-class Order Of Australia in the Romanised Minstrel Stakes, who subsequently acquitted himself well on the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, too. If you judge him on those couple of performances, this Irish raider is massively overpriced and it’s interesting to see Chris Hayes travel to the UK for his only ride on the card before jetting back off to Ireland tomorrow. He is likely to hold his mount up off what seems likely to be a strong pace and, provided he gets the gaps to appear when needed, a repeat of his two previous placed efforts may well be good enough for him to land his first pattern-class event. 

The ratings suggest MOKAKHAYYEL (best price 4-1) should be close to favouritism for this event, though, being the clear top-rated at 116 and is worth a straight-win interest at the forecast prices as everything has aligned perfectly for him to produce a positive display in the feature race on the card. 

He was really impressive when winning his second Bunbury Cup under a big weight at Newmarket and was a creditable three-length second off top-weight in an ultra-competitive handicap at Ascot three weeks ago. His form figures over seven-furlongs on decent ground reads an impressive 12112216. His RPR of 121 on his penultimate outing is the standout figure in this race and, although he’s drawn in stall nine, he should get a good pace to aim at with plenty of confirmed pacesetters in the line-up so, and, at the current prices, he looks great value to firmly put himself in the mixture given the level of form he’s already achieved this term. 

LAMPANG (best price 6-1) finally gets his favoured good ground in the William Hill Great St Wilfrid Handicap, who has been the subject of meeting rain every time he’s tackled a big race in the summer and, with plenty of pace likely to be in order near his low-draw in stall two, he looks set to prove why connections rate him so highly with a bold effort under SDS with six places widely available.

The Tim Easterby-trained four-year-old ran well to be a keeping-on tenth in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot from the unfavourable side of the track and was then just touched off in a three-runner affair, showing a tremendous attitude in the finish despite the race turning into a tactical battle late on. This son of Dandy Man did well to finish as close as he did in the Stewards’ Cup from a poor draw and considering the fact the rain didn’t help and neither did his slow start, either. This competition is far less demanding, while SDS, who was a late replacement last time, maintains the partnership and, in the likelihood he gets a clear sight of things from his decent-looking low draw, he surely has the ammunition to go close for last year’s winning stable.

A lot of these arrive in pretty good form but a chance is taken on the Brian Ellison-trained CONSTANTINE BAY (best price 28-1) who is returning from a 591 day absence, but has dropped to a very good mark and has the capabilities to run a big race here getting three places having bypassed three previous entries in the last couple of months or, so. 

He doesn’t have many miles on the clock and has been held back with injuries during his career but back in 2017, he was held in high regard when trained by Nicky Henderson, in which he won his first three starts over hurdles before finishing fourth in a pair of Grade 1’s, notably the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham and the Doom Bar Sefton Novices' Hurdle at Aintree. He’s been limited to just four starts since, but he did shape as though back to some sort of form at Cheltenham on New Year's Day 2020 when keeping on strongly to be a never-nearer fifth of 12 and has been eased five-pound by the handicapper since. He was due to run at Aintree on Grand National day but was pulled out of that race and a couple of other entries, presumably in favour of this contest. Aidan Coleman is an interesting jockey booking and his quiet riding style might suit this horse very well indeed and being one of just two runner’s on the card for his boss, he looks underestimated at the general 28/1 and rates decent each-way value.