Architect Tips has three selections covering the ITV races on Saturday.
14:22 Ascot
This is a cracking renewal of the Group 2 Summer Mile, and while My Cloud has won his last four starts, HAATEM (best price 5/2) seems a fair price given his record at this course.
An established Group 1 horse at his best, he placed in both the English and Irish 2,000 Guineas races last season and those are the best pieces of form available.
All of his best form has come on good or quicker ground and was an impressive winner of the Wolferton Stakes last time out when stepped up in distance.
The drop to a mile will be no problem to him, and given he’s proven himself at the top level, Richard Hannon’s four-year-old is an appealing proposition at the odds.
14:35 York
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS (best price 9/4) must have a great chance in the City Walls Listed Stakes. He ran a very good race when seventh in the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes last time out and prior that he finished third in the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock.
He’s consistently held his form well at a higher level than today’s event and is also a past Group 3 winner. Kevin Ryan’s smart sprinter has run well on all previous four starts at the course, including when sixth in last year’s Nunthorpe Stakes.
Eased significantly in class, with conditions to suit, the five-year-old looks poised to register a first win since last April.
14:50 Newmarket
More Thunder has really strong claims on the back of an unlucky second in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot. However, his odds represent little value in a race of this calibre in his first go at seven furlongs and I’ll chance AKKADIAN THUNDER (best price 6/1) who is proven over the trip.
I thought David O’Meara’s charge ran just as well as More Thunder at the Royal meeting when second in the Buckingham Palace, where he didn’t enjoy the clearest of runs and would have been closer otherwise.
While the winner Never So Brave was impressive, the selection would have been a clear winner without him in it. He pulled nearly three lengths clear of the third and must have excellent claims off the same mark.
This will be his first run at Newmarket, but there’s no reason why he won’t handle it, and this strong traveller, who has William Buick on his back, looks the biggest danger to the favourite.
I can’t see him out of the frame at the very least if he can stage a repeat of that latest solid performance.
