How to bet your £20 on Saturday - give the Classic generation the swerve in the Eclipse

When a horse such as Capri edges the Irish Derby against the principal finishers at Epsom it is fairly underwhelming stuff.

Rekindling is the only three-year-old from Epsom to have gone on to beat his elders, but that was a Group Two contest over 1m6f and he beat Wicklow Brave, who was sent off the 11-8 favourite. WICKOW BRAVE, PEOPLE!

Coral and Betway make it around an 80% chance that the first real clash of the generations will go the way of the three-year-olds - surely the 11-4 about the older horses is value?

The older brigade lead the young upstarts 34 to 18 since the race became an all-age affair and this century the three-year-olds have struck only six times. Two of those were among the greatest there has been for some time in Derby and Arc winner Golden Horn in 2015 and Sea The Stars, who won every Group One going in 2009.

To my eyes the market looks skewed and Barney Roy aside, Cliffs Of Moher and Eminent look very easily opposed.

Barney Roy is the key runner for the three-year-olds. He had to beat only a disappointing Churchill and a rogues gallery of rivals in the St James's Palace Stakes, but it is impossible to get away from how fleet of foot the Godolphin challenger was.

He came bounding in to the closing stages, and clocked a faster penultimate furlong than the mighty Kingman in the same race three years ago. His final furlong time was quicker than Ribchester in the Queen Anne, too.

There will be many who will question whether he can last home up the Esher hill going another two furlongs and three-year-old milers such as The Gurkha, Black Minnaloushe and Night Of Thunder all struggled to take the step up in trip at short odds.

Neither Richard Hannon, the trainer, nor rider James Doyle believe the ten furlongs will be a problem, and both zero in on how relaxed Barney Roy was at Royal Ascot in comparison to his more inexperienced days. If that’s relaxed I’d love to see both men worked up.

It must not be forgotten that Barney Roy is also entered in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and it took Sheikh Mohammed himself to shatter any idea that Barney Roy would line-up in the Derby. Thinking a horse can get ten furlongs at Group One level is one thing, but as a trainer Hannon has never handled a top-class middle-distance prospect at his Wiltshire base during his short career. Neither had his father while young Richard was an adult.

The horse with the best form at ten furlongs on good to firm ground is Decorated Knight, and quite why he is a bigger price in some places than Ulysees is a mystery to me. Decorated Knight beat Ulysees fair and square when second to Highland Reel in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes and this race looks perfect for him.

Ever since Decorated Knight moved from the hustle and bustle of Newmarket to Roger Charlton’s quiet facility at Beckhampton last season the five-year-old gelding has improved with every race. I have never seen a horse sweat as much when his stomach dripped with it before Royal Ascot, but many Galileos are prone to get warm and it barely compromised his chance. Decorated Knight has two Group One victories to Barney Roy’s Royal Ascot triumph, and I can see the only two winners at the top level in the race battling it out at the finish.

The three-year-olds may well have their scalp earlier on the card anyway as Battaash has been drawn well for his front-running tactics in stall two for the Coral Charge. Old campaigner Muthmir gets Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum’s first colours and Jim Crowley, but you’d much prefer to be in Dane O’Neill’s saddle. Battaash slammed subsequent Group Three winner Koropick on his first start of the season three weeks ago and a reproduction of that form would probably be enough to edge this Group Three. Battaash is almost certain to improve, however, and although he was 6-1 earlier in the week, the 3-1 with Skybet is fine if you are entering the waters now. Goldream would be a danger if Battaash goes too fast, and Muthmir looked up to his best form when fourth in the King’s Stand Stakes.

I have no doubt that George William is the best horse in the Coral Challenge. His chance in the Hunt Cup was gone almost as soon as the gates opened, and he was not the luckiest when second in the Victoria Cup, nor in the Spring Mile. George William is an unlucky horse, but his fortune only has to improve slightly and he will win a big pot soon. I am hoping Saturday is that day.

Abingdon looks almost impossible to beat in the Bet365 Lancashire Oaks at Haydock. Sir Michael Stoute’s filly was a ten-length winner at Pontefract two weeks ago on her first start of the season. Only the possibility of the bounce factor, where horses recoil against a monster performance following a layoff, stands in her way.

Racing UK pundit Chris Dixon clearly likes the look of Big Country’s chances in the Bet365 Old Newton Cup. Dixon is a part-owner of the four-year-old, who has been a revelation since he joined Mick Appleby from Ireland. I am inclined to agree with our pundit, and the Haydock race is one that has been friendly to punters in the past decade – there has not been a winner sent off bigger than 14-1. But there have been big-priced winners down the years – Sun Bird hit the mark 15 years ago at 40-1 and it only takes one every so often to make it pay at those odds!

Saigon City takes my eye at 20-1, having arrived in Declan Carroll's yard last season and has improved ever since. Well named – out of Hoh Chi Min, the seven-year-old split Chemical Charge (rated 107) and Muntahaa (rated 113) on his reappearance at Doncaster in April over 12 furlongs. That looked a performance that flattered him, but he followed up by beating subsequent Queen Alexandra Stakes winner Oriental Fox.

How To Bet Your £20 on Saturday:

2.25 Sandown: £3 each-wayGeorge William each-way at 8-1 generally available

3.15 Haydock: £2 each-way Saigon City at 20-1 generally available

3.35 Sandown: £5 each-way Decorated Knight at 8-1 generally available

OPTION TWO:

£1 Lucky 15

2.25 Sandown: George William at 8-1

2.40 Haydock: Abingdon at 15-8

3.15 Haydock: Saigon City at 20-1

3.35 Sandown: Decorated Knight at 8-1

Plus £5 win on Decorated Knight in the 3.35 Sandown

OPTION THREE:

£5 double on Abingdon and Battaash

3.35 Sandown: £5 each-way on Decorated Knight at 8-1 generally available

3.15 Haydock: £2.50 each-way on Saigon City at 20-1 generally available

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