Five key horses at Haydock over the next three days

The ground for Haydock Park’s big three-day meeting this week seems likely to be on the slow side when the meeting gets under way on Thursday.

Daniel Cooper, clerk of the course, told the media via Zoom on Tuesday afternoon that a wet Sunday and Monday at the Lancashire venue (an aggregate of 17mm) meant the ground was slow and likely to stay that way for at least 48 hours. There was an additional 1mm on Tuesday, too.

Better weather is forecast over the days ahead, but Cooper expects the word “soft” to still feature in the going description on Thursday and Friday.

The prospects of “firm” creeping in by Saturday for the £400,000 Betfair Sprint Cup seems slim, although don’t discount the possibility of good ground all around by the weekend. 

Kevin Ryan, trainer of Inisherin, the Sprint Cup favourite, was on the same Zoom call and said he would be unperturbed by whatever conditions materialised for his Commonwealth Cup winner.

However, he did suggest “loose ground” was possibly a reason for the colt’s disappointing fifth in the July Cup at Newmarket and did not discount the possibility of his star moving back up in distance next year.

Here are five runners to keep in mind for the meeting. 

There’s surely a big handicap in this five-year-old and I’m hoping all the parts of the jigsaw fall into place at the weekend. 

He kept on to be a fine fourth in the Ebor last time, having previously been runner-up in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes – when again coming from well off the pace – and a never-nearer fifth in the John Smith’s Cup. 

My one niggle is that he will have had just a fortnight to recover from his exploits at York, but he’s not had the busiest of campaigns – this will be only his fifth run of the season – and this represents an easier assignment. 

Karl Burke’s chestnut filly has finished 34422 in her five Group One assignments over the past year and would not be winning a big one out of turn. The general 8/1 on offer about her hitting the jackpot looks more than fair. 

She ran a cracker to be a close fourth in last year’s edition when drawn widest of all in stall 18 and basically running solo. 

On her past two starts, she’s been beaten half a length by Khadeem in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes and then a neck by Mill Stream in the July Cup. Swingalong hasn’t got either of that pair to worry about this time and William Buick has been pencilled in to ride with Clifford Lee, her usual rider, inked in for Elite Status. 

Lee has ridden Elite Status on his past seven starts and it could not have been easy for him to pick between the pair, if he even had a choice in the matter. 

This two-year-old filly is a half-sister to The Ridler, the 2022 Norfolk winner, and like him is trained by Richard Fahey and owned by Steve Bradley. 

She’s shown plenty of ability in her first two starts without being able to get her head in front – keeping on well to be runner-up on her York debut over 6f in July before filling the same position when beaten a short head at Beverley last time. 

Fingers got burnt on the second occasion – Stormy Impact went off at 2/5 – but the drop to 5f was probably not ideal and she bumped into a potentially useful rival in Lothlorien. The pair pulled clear in the closing stages 

Stormy Impact is now back over 6f and can make the most of the 6lb that Nottingham winner First Instinct must concede. 

Race: WATCH ON RACING TV EBF NOVICE STAKES (3.40 Thursday)

Charlie Appleby has landed this mile novice event for the past three years with above-average performers – twice with colts who arrived after being beaten first time out and once with a debutant. 

Silver Peak fits into the first category and seems sure to build on his debut fourth at Kempton last month. That contest developed into a sprint and he stuck to his task despite looking a bit raw, pulling clear of the rest. 

The Dubawi colt is out of a dam who was a close relation to the top-class Persian King (won three Group One contests and was third in the Arc in 2020) and cost €1,250,000 as a yearling. He doesn’t hold any fancy entries this autumn but seems sure to build on that initial experience. 

Seven years have slipped by James Fanshawe landed the Sprint Cup with The Tin Man. He could be represented by Kind Of Blue in the Group One feature this weekend and I fancy he will be celebrating before then via Elladonna in this ten-furlong handicap. 

This lightly raced filly has hit form with a vengeance since being fitted with a hood on her past two starts, winning at Nottingham and Salisbury (the third home has since been a shock Listed winner). She’s gone up an aggregate of 8lb for those victories but there should be more to come. 

Elladonna, chalked up at 7/2 by William Hill,  missed an intended date at Glorious Goodwood because of good to firm going, having also been withdrawn at Salisbury earlier in the summer because of fast terrain. 

She’s yet to race on ground slower than “good” but both sides of her pedigree suggest she will be suited by some give underfoot. William Buick was on board for her win at Nottingham and is back on board. In addition, Fanshawe has his team in fabulous form, wining with five of his past six runners, including at 20/1.