Haydock plays host to a fantastic card on Saturday and with so many open races we can hope for huge returns in the Tote Placepot.
GG Editor Jake Russell guides us through his suggestions on how to scoop some of the big prize today.
Leg 1 – Haydock 1.15 (1) Auld Toon Loon
A very difficult contest to open the card at Haydock, with most of these on a bit of a retrieval mission and not particularly running in the best of form. Therefore, it might pay diffidence to side with the top weight Auld Toon Loon, which usually works in these types of handicaps. A five race Maiden who has placed on a few occasions to this point, he ran a decent enough 2nd last time out at Wetherby in a Class 4 contest, where he finished a half-length 2nd. That was decent enough, and the drop-in class to this mediocre class 5 contest should finally see him winning for the very first time.
Leg 2 – Haydock 1.50 (5) Law Of The Sea
The favourite in this contest comes off the back of a very nice winning effort at Doncaster last time out when landing the hattrick, and Ralph Becketts horses are going very well at the moment, but the way that race was run last time was very muddling and probably fell into her lap. Therefore, it pays best to side with Law Of The Sea, who was once owned by Godolphin and did look a very nice prospect in the making for the Gosden team, who won two Novice contests over 1m4f with him, looking potentially like a Derby horse in the making. That didn’t work out unfortunately and now is trained by Ian Williams who does well with this type of horses and running off the mark of 91, which seems very lenient considering what previous connections thought of him. I would expect him to go well, with Champion Jockey William Buick now booked.
Leg 3 – Haydock 2.25 (7) Gincident
A wide-open contest for the Silver Bowl, I am siding with the Richard Fahey trained Gincident who arguably has the most experience under his name. Having run on 12 different occasions, he has won four contests. His turf form isn’t as good as his all-weather form; however, he won a decent contest at Musselburgh last time out, beating Urban Sprawl by just under 3 lengths. That was a nice performance, and he won a class 3 contest at Wolverhampton in February by a head. He will have to step up markedly form wise to beat some of these decent types, but he is battle hardened and should push comes to shove, I expect him to be there or thereabouts come the finish. Neil Callan takes the reigns, and he is riding in brilliant form at present.
Leg 4 – Haydock 3.00 (4) Little Big Bear
Quite clearly the best horse in the race, on both ratings and form, he is rated 10lb’s plus above most of these runners, but there is always a little doubt whenever he runs due to his behaviour pre-race. He was well fancied for the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket last time, taking the step up to 1-mile for the very first time. He did disappoint in that race however but was struck when running early on in the contest and ended up finishing an eased down last. It’s difficult to figure out what the plan is with him going forward, but you can only assume should he win this contest tomorrow, then the Commonwealth Cup over the 6 furlongs will be on his agenda next month at the Royal Meeting. He was a Group 1 winner over 6 furlongs last season as a two-year-old and does have by far the best form in the race. Hopefully all is ok with him after the 2000 Guineas run, and he goes ahead and gets his 3yo season off and running by winning this. Frankie Dettori booked will always attract plenty of attention with punters, and he is riding as well as ever at the moment.
Leg 5 – Haydock 3.30 (6) Live In The Dream
The second of the Group 2 contests at Haydock this weekend, it is a very wide-open sprint contest with some last season favourites going out again for the new season. The ones at the top of the market deserve to be there, but the fact they haven’t been out this year does leave a few question marks for them, therefore I will be siding with the in-form Live In The Dream. He has won on his first two runs this season already, winning at Lingfield then Pontefract, arguably a career best performance came last time out in the Group 3 Palace House Stakes at Newmarket. He loves to scorch clear from the gates, and it’s absolutely brilliant to watch him on a going day. If he can build on that run last time, and show it wasn’t a draw bias fluke, then I expect him to do his usual early pace anticks. Back to the better conditions might suit, but his best form comes on conditions with a little bit of give in the ground.
Leg 6 – Haydock 4.10 (4) De Bruyne
Not particularly the best contest for the penultimate race on the card, so I will keep this short and sweat. De Bruyne was a decent winner of a Novice contest over 5 furlongs at Newcastle in December, beating by Macho Mania by a neck. He then headed into a contest at Salisbury last time out after a 6 month break over 6 furlongs, coming 6th out of 10 runners, getting beat by just under 6 lengths. That was his first run in a while, so he is bound to come on from that, over a sharper trip that will suit him a lot more. With Hollie Doyle booked, that is an eye-catching booking, I expect the Ed Walker horse to go well in this very winnable contest.