Sam King takes a look at the feature Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday.
A stellar line-up of sixteen horses will go to post for the six-furlong Group 1 Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday, with owner Owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid seemingly holding a strong hand courtesy of both market leader Inisherin and Elite Status.
Kevin Ryan's Inisherin is the obvious starting point. The three-year-old looked to have all before him in the six-furlong division when blowing his rivals away in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, but a below-par effort in the July Cup at Newmarket does leave some question marks surrounding him. There's a definite chance he wasn't at ease on the undulating track that day and there will be no issues about the return to this venue, given he landed the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes on his first outing over six-furlongs here in May. That authoritative display in Merseyside also came on soft ground, conditions he looks likely to face on his return to Haydock.
Stall ten of sixteen looks like a nice starting position and while it wouldn't be at all surprising to see him bounce back to his best, there surely has to be a niggling concern about the current stable form. The Kevin Ryan yard, who so often operate at around the 20% strike-rate, has saddled just one winner from 34 runners over the last fortnight (3%) and it's unlikely Inisherin will get away with winning what looks like a competitive Group 1 if even slightly below his best.
With that in mind, it has to be worth looking at alternatives. In contrast, to Kevin Ryan, Karl Burke has been enjoying a decent run of things of late and all three of his contenders appear to hold a live chance. The fragile yet talented three-year-old Elite Status surely has more to offer following back-to-back wins at Newbury this term, while it's easy to see why the front-running Swingalong, who finished fourth in this twelve months ago, will be popular amongst punters after she went down narrowly to Mill Stream in the July Cup at Newmarket. Their stablemate Spycatcher got back to winning ways at Deauville last month and with conditions to suit once more, it wouldn't be at all astonishing to see him feature under Ryan Moore.
Clive Cox's Jasour missed his engagement over five furlongs at Glorious Goodwood due to a setback but has made a full recovery in time to take his place. The son of red-hot sire Havana Grey finished sixth behind a handful of reopposing rivals in the July Cup on his final outings and proved this season he handled some cut in the ground when successful in the Group 3 Commonwealth Cup Trial at Ascot in May.
With Kinross a notable absentee, Rossa Ryan is booked to partner Mick Appleby's Annaf, who makes his first start of the season after showing some smart progressive form last season, including when landing a Group 2 sprint on the turf at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia when last seen in February.
A Group 1 winning juvenile, Bucanero Fuerte clearly requires the utmost respect on his first start since winning the Group 3 Lacken Stakes at Naas in May, while fellow Irish raider Givemethebeatboys, who was runner-up in that event earlier in the season, also warrants consideration after his head defeat of the reopposing James Fanshawe-trained Kind Of Blue at the Curragh recently. The latter-mentioned remains very much unexposed in this type of contest and cannot be written off lightly for a trainer who landed this prestigious prize with Society Rock in 2012 and The Tin Man in 2018.
There aren't many top-level races in Britain that have escaped trainer William Haggas, but the Betfair Sprint Cup is one that has eluded the Yorkshire-born handler. The Somerville Lodge-based trainer arrives double-handled on the Merseyside and while his Wokingham Stakes heroine Unequel Love shouldn't be taken lightly, it could be the likeable Montassib who breaks the duck for Haggas.
With the likes of Swingalong, Inisherin and Art Power all likely to ensure this is run at a proper clip, it may well set up nicely for one of the closers. A confirmed hold-up performer who relishes cut in the ground, the improving Montassib might not need to find much more to be very competitive in a top-level contest that is going to be run to suit. He quickened up smartly from the rear of the field to pick up Kinross at Newcastle on the all-weather last time and although Ralph Beckett's runner was making his reappearance that day, it remained a good performance on the figures.
Cieren Fallon has built up an excellent rapport with this horse and with 11/1 freely available and extra places likely to be on offer with the majority of bookmakers, he looks like a knocking each-way bet on his first outing in Group 1 company.
