Haydock

1.45pm

Prejudice (NON RUNNER)

I was very happy with his comeback fourth over 1m3f at Newbury. He is a big horse who needs a lot of galloping at home to get him fit, so I think it is fair to assume he will come on appreciably for that run. He certainly travelled through the race well before getting tired. The handicapper has been a bit harsh in raising him 1lb for being beaten over 3 lengths there, but hopefully there is a lot more to come from him. He certainly has the pedigree, being a brother to Postponed and a half-brother to God Given. Both of those won in testing ground, so let’s hope he can cope with the expected deep going here. He has a very decent chance, if he does, as obviously his family improved with age and he is unexposed over a trip that should really suit. And this race has really cut up at the overnight stage.

2.25pm

Mrs Sippy

I was expecting a fair bit more from her on her reappearance in the Middleton, but maybe she needed it more than I thought over a trip that was shy of her best on quick ground. It looks like being soft ground at best here if the forecast is correct, but hopefully she can handle it, and she is a filly I can see progressing into a live contender in the best middle-distance fillies’ races this season. I definitely think she will rate higher than her current mark of 103, anyway, and that already makes her a player here. I had a sit on her on Wednesday, and hopefully the longer trip and slower ground will see her leave that York run behind. True Self is probably the one we all have to beat, though.

3.00pm

Treasure Me

She has a lot to find with a few of these on official ratings but in her favour is that she recorded a career-best when stepped down to 6f on soft ground at Nottingham last time. She drops down to 5f for the first time here, but it looks well worth trying on the evidence of Nottingham, and it promises to be a stamina-test in the conditions. The visor seems to have made a difference to her.

3.35pm

Breton Rock

He is one horse who definitely won’t mind the rain. You had to be happy enough with his third at Windsor on his return, and the 9yo came on appreciably for his comeback run when a narrow second to Sir Dancealot in the Lennox Stakes at Goodwood last season. He didn’t run in this race last season, but he had in the previous four campaigns, only losing out narrowly it in 2014. He is a course winner who loves soft ground – though he won the Lennox on good in 2017, so he isn’t one-dimensional on that front – and it isn’t hard to see him going well here. It’s a pretty decent renewal, though, and he meets some higher-rated, borderline Group 1 horses in here.

4.10pm

Bernardo O’Reilly

He won on his debut and ran well first-time-out in heavy ground at Leicester last season, so hopefully he will be straight enough. He signed off with a win at Newbury win last term and is 6lb higher here as a result, but he is a 5yo in only his third season of racing, so it is reasonable to assume there is more left in the tank on ground he clearly handles.

4.45pm

Glorious Emaraty

He showed fair form over this trip last season and I presume they were expecting more from him on his return over 5f at Wolverhampton in April. Maybe the trip was too short, or he underperformed for another reason there, but a mark of 76 looks okay and the dam won in testing ground in France. I can see him going well in what is clearly an open and competitive 3yo handicap.