Wednesday Racing Tips from Architect

LIHOU (best price 5/2) has remained winless since the start of last year, but his mark continues to come down whilst still remaining in decent form and that has proved to be the case the last twice with two solid efforts. His fourth in a class two on his penultimate start at Goodwood, is solid form, as the winner, Raasel, and the second, Clarendon House, have both won good-quality sprint events since.

While the third, Mookatil, subsequently ran well to finish fourth in the Epsom Dash off a mark of 87. David Evans’ charge has dropped three-pounds since to 76 and, with James Doyle booked to ride, a repeat of that display ought to be good enough to see him win this race. 

Last year’s winner Tangled is a horse I have a lot of time for and he’s well-treated in his bid to go back-to-back in this but WAR OF WORDS (best price 9/1) looks to have been in lightly here on handicap debut and gets a strong each-way vote of confidence. He was demoted to third on debut due to some interference but he did beat Cranelle on that occasion and that horse recently finished third in the Sandringham Stakes at Royal Ascot to advertise the form.

He then matched that form when a head second later that month and was unlucky not to remain unbeaten in this sphere when caught in the final stride. A mark of 80 here, looks lenient, and he makes plenty of each-way appeal with more to offer, four places available and the potential to rank higher being the least exposed runner in the field. 

KING TRITON (best price 9/1) failed to fire for whatever reason at Hamilton last time and perhaps conditions were softer than ideal. That said, he retains potential and his form in general looks strong in the context of this race. He beat a 97-rated rival when opening his account on his third start at Thirsk and he then went to York to contest the Sky Bet Mile (class two) on handicap debut and ran a blinder to finish a close-up third, splitting two horses rated 95 and 100 respectively.

He wasn’t beaten far next time off a mark of 86 in a muddling contest and ran well on his seasonal debut from the front to finish third in a class three, in which he was conceding fitness to the front two home. He’s three-pounds lower here and is drawn well in stall 1 to attack early so, with every indication that he’s a lot better than his initial mark, he looks the most overpriced horse with a chance of winning the race. Four places widely available. 

This is competitive but, that said, DUBAI MIRAGE (best price 9/2) could be about to strike for the boys in blue with Andrea Atzeni booked to ride. The five-year-old has posted some big efforts off this mark, including when fifth in the Cambridgeshire back in 2020 and went on to run well at York last year off the same mark to finish fourth off top-weight.

He’s done quite a bit of racing in Dubai this year, where he’s reached the frame in all three starts, and did best of the rest when runner-up to subsequent Royal Ascot winner Dark Shift at Nottingham when last spotted. That was his first run in the UK for nine months and he was giving six-pounds to the winner, so his performance can be upgraded. He is sure to be more streetwise here and is fancied to defy his big weight and collect the spoils. 

Oscula has an obvious chance but the value could be with MISS CAROL ANN (best price 9/1) who is thought highly of by trainer Roger Varian and should be ready to showcase her skills in today's feature contest with a recent pipe-opener under her belt. She won well on her debut and has been highly tried in two subsequent starts, where she’s been too keen for her own good and has failed to see out her race having travelled well, too well in fact, including when sixth in a Group Three last time. The drop in trip to six-furlongs should suit and there’s lots of pace sure to be on offer here, which should help her to settle better. If she can put it all together, she should, at the very least, give the favourite plenty to think about under David Egan.