Haydock 3.15 Old Newton Cup

The Old Newton Cup is a race steeped in history and the 1m 4f handicap has attracted a maximum field of 17 runners and looks to be the best betting heat of the day with plenty of enhanced place offers around at the time of writing. 

It is a race that has been dominated by horses aged 4 or 5 in recent years and all bar four of the runners in this year’s contest fall into that category so there is a good chance that the trend will continue. 

That is not good news, therefore, for SCARLET DRAGON who, at the age of 8, is the oldest horse in the race by at least a couple of years. He is one of two contenders here who ran in last year’s renewal, where he finished 7^th, and he returns here off a 4lb lower mark. He came into last year’s race on the back of a victory at Royal Ascot and he has had a similar prep this time around (although he failed to win the same race at this year’s Royal meeting). They possibly didn’t go hard enough from the front for him at Ascot and, with several confirmed front-runners in here, this dual-purpose performer, trained by Alan King, may get a better pace to aim at here. 

Alan King has another entry in the race in the form of recent Epsom winner MIDNIGHTS LEGACY. This 4 year-old has a good record at this track, winning on 2 of the 3 occasions he has raced here, but is now some 12lbs higher than for his win here just over a year ago. Following a brief dalliance with hurdling last autumn, the horse underwent wind surgery prior to a largely unsuccessful winter campaign on the all-weather. Freshened up in the spring, he has returned in much better form in this turf season and his win at Epsom followed a creditable runner-up effort at Salisbury. He has been raised 8lbs for the Epsom victory, though, and is now worse off at the weights with the two rivals today he beat in that race. His regular jockey returns in the saddle and Alan King always has to be respected in these valuable flat handicaps. 

The horse who finished just behind MIDNIGHTS LEGACY at Epsom is SOTO SIZZLER. He is a bit of an Epsom specialist who ran his best race for new connections there following his stable-switch in the spring. He is 4lbs better off with the winner here, and was slowly away after rearing in the stalls, but, whilst he could be classed an unlucky loser that day, he is now some 10lbs higher than his last winning mark so faces a tough task here. 

The other horse who ran in the Epsom race is THE TRADER. He raced prominently for much of the race but faded in the final stages of the race to finish a well beaten 7^th. He is 8lbs better off with the winner and 4lbs better off with SOTO SIZZLER but was beaten a long way by both. He may not have been suited by the unusual Epsom track but it is, also, not unusual for horses from this stable to throw in the odd bad run and to follow it up with a good one and he finished 3^rd in this race last year. He races from the same mark here as 12 months ago and the ground should be more suitable. The form of his win over stable-mate Hochfeld, at Hamilton in May, is now looking strong after last week’s Northumberland Plate and his draw in stall 1 (which he also came from last year) is not a bad one. Franny Norton takes over in the saddle and his trainer has won 3 of the last 8 runnings of this contest. 

The Mark Johnston yard also has ZABEEL CHAMPION entered and he has looked extremely progressive this year winning 3 on the bounce prior to running a brave race to finish 3^rd at Royal Ascot in ground that would not have suited him. The form of his last win has since been boosted by the runner-up and, whilst he has been steadily rising up the handicap, connections feel he could be a future Group-class horse so a mark of 104 may not be enough to stop him. The trainer’s record in the race, obviously, means he has to warrant respect but he does have plenty of other positives and he finished ahead of 4 of today’s rivals at Ascot. One for the short-list. 

Michael Stoute has a good strike-rate at Haydock (22% in the last 5 years) but that does not include this particular race where none of his 10 runners this century have been successful. He has had 3 horses placed in that time, including last year, and his representative this year is the 4 year-old MY FRANKEL. He won on seasonal debut in good fashion at Kempton but, having gone up 7lbs for that, was very disappointing when only 11^th next time at York. He is still lightly-raced but he does have it to prove on turf, particularly in a race of this quality, as his record of just 1 win (in a Leicester maiden last year) from 4 starts does not compare very favourably with his perfect 2/2 on the all-weather. There is no better jockey around Haydock than Richard Kingscote, so that is a positive, but he hardly looks well-handicapped here. 

The weights are headed by PABLO ESCOBARR. He is a horse who has raced mainly in stakes races and contests a handicap for the first time since last year’s Ebor and only for the third time in his career. He didn’t seem to see out the trip at York but was very consistent, apart from that, last season. He has been less so this year but did, at least, put on an improved showing last week at Newmarket after a poor return in May. He wore a visor for the first time last week and that headgear is retained here. I am a big fan of both the trainer and the jockey but feel he may have too much on his plate here. 

At the other end of the weights is LONGSIDER and he is a handicap debutant for Sir Mark Prescott so has to be worthy of close attention. He has only raced for his current trainer once and, indeed, has only 3 career runs to his name so he could be anything. All of his runs so far have been on the all-weather and he has won 2 of them – including on stable debut in February after a 13-month absence. He beat a horse now rated 89 that day, conceding 5lbs, so his opening mark here could under-estimate him but he races here on the back of another lengthy lay-off and, having held an entry, he was deemed not quite ready for last week’s Northumberland Plate so there may still be a fitness concern. He has to break from the widest stall but he is a hold-up horse so that may not be too much of an issue. It will be interesting to see if the money comes for him between now and the time of the race. 

A horse that has attracted some market support in the last 24 hours is GRAND BAZAAR who hails from the powerful John and Thady Gosden yard. They are certainly a stable in good form at the moment and John Gosden has long been a master in these top handicaps. He was very progressive last season, as a 3 year-old and his only poor performance came on soft ground at the end of the campaign. He was a non-runner at Royal Ascot, because of the ground conditions, but should find conditions more suitable here and returned this season in decent form when finishing 3^rd behind ZABEEL CHAMPION at Newmarket. Given that both horses who finished ahead of him that day have subsequently placed at Royal Ascot, and gone up in the handicap, the fact that his mark is unchanged here has to be seen as a positive and he could be well treated. He has a 3lb pull with Mark Johnston’s horse and was beaten just a nose and a short-head at Newmarket on what was his first run of the season. He is sure to come on for that run and may well have had this race as his main target. 

In addition to MIDNIGHTS LEGACY, the only other horse in here who has won at the track before is WIN O’CLOCK who represents Roger Charlton. That win, which was the first of his career, came last June and was over 1m 2f although he has subsequently won over this trip and further. All of his wins came last season and he is yet to get his head in front this term but he did run well at York, finishing ahead of MY FRANKEL when 4^th, and ran better than his final placing suggests at Royal Ascot last time. He has been dropped 1lb following that run and the return of Thomas Greatrex to the saddle takes off another 3lbs. The jockey has 4 wins and 2 places from just 7 rides on the horse so they have a good relationship and his return could be a key to a return to form. The main worry, however, would be the ground drying out further and connections will hope that the showers forecast arrive and in some quantity. 

Four places ahead of WIN O’CLOCK at Ascot was AADDEEY and he may not have been suited by the heavy ground that day. His form on good ground is 2 wins and 2 runner-up spots from 4 runs with the last of those wins coming at Newmarket in May. He went up 13lbs for that comfortable win but the horse who finished 2^nd has won since and they are employing a very useful 3lb claimer here to offset some of that rise. Prior to his last win he had finished 2^nd at Newbury behind another subsequent winner, who is now rated 13lbs higher, and ahead of the future Thirsk Hunt Cup winner. His form clearly has some substance and, even with the rise, could still be well handicapped but I think that he may be being aimed at The Ebor as his main target so would connections want to completely blow his mark ahead of that? 

ALOUNAK also ran in The Duke of Edinburgh at Royal Ascot and finished 7^th. That was his first run in a handicap since arriving in this country last summer and he has been competing in group races and listed events. He is yet to win in the UK, in 9 attempts, although he did finish 2^nd in The Hardwicke last season at Royal Ascot. He is now rated 12lbs lower than a year ago but, although he has performed slightly better since being gelded over the winter, he may need more respite still from the handicapper. 

A horse who could have the scope to be much better than his mark here is VALYRIAN STEEL. Roger Varian’s 4 year-old was due to run in The Duke of Edinburgh also but was withdrawn on account of the heavy ground. He put a poor seasonal debut at Epsom behind him with a brace of wins on the all-weather, and that took his record on an artificial surface to 3 wins from 3 starts, but he has only won once on turf. He ran well enough in a York handicap last autumn, finishing 4^th, to suggest that a big field holds no fears, but this is a step up in grade so more is required. 

Another relatively lightly-raced horse, in the UK at least, is BRILLIANT LIGHT. He had a winter racing in Dubai and has had just the one run back in the UK this season. That came at Royal Ascot where he finished last in a first-time visor. The headgear is left off here, and it could be that he badly needed the run after 3 months off the track, but it was undoubtedly a disappointing run. The trainer turns to the useful Marco Ghiani, to utilise his soon to disappear 3lb claim, and the jockey has an excellent strike-rate for this trainer. He, of course, rode a big winner for the yard at Royal Ascot. 

I was at Windsor last weekend when DARK JEDI made his seasonal reappearance. He finished a well beaten 5^th that day and, although a little short of room at one point, never really looked like threatening the race principals in a finish. He is 1lb lower here and is bound to strip much fitter here for a trainer who has been in good form this season and who knows how to ‘plot’ a horse for a big handicap. Previously with Charlie Hills, there is no doubt that this horse has improved since switching to Tim Easterby and, in addition to winning twice, he ran some excellent races in big handicaps last season. He finished 4^th in The John Smiths Cup at York and, then, stepping up in trip, ran an excellent race at this venue to finish 2^nd behind Euchen Glen in the Old Borough Cup in September. He is only 2lbs higher here whilst the winner has gone up by a stone since so he could be well-handicapped in the context of this race. He is a solid each-way contender. 

PIRATE KING is having his first run on turf in two years but he has been running well on the all-weather since switching to this yard in October 2019. He was last seen getting the better of MIDNIGHTS LEGACY at Lingfield at the end of January and he is 10lbs better off with that rival here but he is on a career-high mark and it is not certain that he will replicate the improvement shown on the all-weather now back on turf. 

LOST EDEN is another with good form on the all-weather but more uncertainty on turf. He has only raced 4 times, winning 2 from 3 on the polytrack, but was tailed off at Ascot in soft ground in May. It was reported that he had an irregular heartbeat after that run, however, so there were clearly excuses. He has been withdrawn from two races since then on account of deteriorating ground so connections will be happy to see better underfoot conditions here. 

This looks a good renewal and is very competitive but I quite quickly managed to whittle down the field to a short-list of six. LONGSIDER is an intriguing entry for the Prescott yard given that they could possibly have given him his handicap debut in a lesser contest than this but he is priced up more on what he could do rather than what he has done already so I will leave him out. 

AADDEEY looks the sort who could be better than his mark and he is consistent on good ground. He warrants respect but I just have a nagging feeling that this could be a stepping stone to The Ebor next month. 

For the main tip, I’m going to go with GRAND BAZAAR. He has had just 9 runs on turf and remains fairly unexposed. He has won 3 and placed in 4 others with the other 2 runs coming on the softest ground he has encountered. There are rain showers forecast throughout the day but, hopefully, the ground will not deteriorate too much and conditions will be fine for him here. He is a horse who likes to race handily and that can be an advantage here. He ran a nice race first time out this season and he improved for his first run last season when winning next time out. Assuming it doesn’t get too soft, he looks to have a big chance off a decent looking mark. 

DARK JEDI is another who improved for his first run last season and may do so again. He has some strong form in handicaps like this and still looks feasibly handicapped on some of those runs. His 2^nd place here in September was given yet another boost by the winner on Friday at Sandown and he has been well backed in the market during Friday evening. He is versatile with regards to ground so won’t mind too much if more rain arrives than is currently forecast. A solid each-way contender. 

Mark Johnston has a good record in this race in recent years and both of his entries have to be respected. ZABEEL CHAMPION is having a good year but, at the prices, I think THE TRADER is worth a tracker bet. He was 3^rd off this mark in this race last year and I’m prepared to forgive his last run at Epsom, which can happen on that track, and hope that he can replicate the form of his win at Hamilton in May instead. He is currently the outsider of the whole field but, a prominent racer, from an inside draw he can out-run his odds here to grab one of the enhanced places on offer. 

TIP: -: Grand Bazaar.    Trackers: -: Dark Jedi / The Trader