Sky Bet Sunday Series: Goldie eyes £100,000 bonus with two horses

The Sky Bet Sunday Series resumes this weekend at Haydock Park with the popular East Renfrewshire trainer Jim Goldie set to stage a two-pronged attack on the £100,000 bonus on offer for being the first to saddle a single horse to complete the challenging feat of three wins across the competitive six-fixture series. 

Evaluation, trained by the now retired Keith Dalgleish, failed to complete the same mission when beaten by the minimum margin (a nose) at Sandown Park in August 2022. Goldie saddles

Letsbefrank

(5.45pm) and American Affair (6.15pm) hoping to hit the Sky Bet supported jackpot. 

Race Preview: 5.45pm: Sky Bet Acca Freeze Handicap, 2m (Class 3, 0-90) 

Letsbefrank got the ball rolling when successful over 1m3f at Hamilton in early June, and the progressive Frankel gelding doubled up at Thirsk (1m 6f), before finishing a close third to Zimmerman on his first attempt over two miles at York recently.  

Jockey Paul Mulrennan explained in his exclusive RacingTV.com column that Letsbefrank just half missed the break at York; “He was wearing a big heavy stalls rug and, in a slowly run race, I just ended up being a length or so further back than ideal.” 

With this race, and future targets in mind, Mulrennan was eager to emphasise that stamina was no problem whatsoever for Letsbefrank saying: “It was a good solid run which identified that staying trips are going to be his thing. There will be lots of opportunities, in the short-term and further down the line, with races like the Cesarewitch and the Northumberland Plate not beyond the realms of possibility if he continues to progress.”  

“I still think that the penny hasn’t fully dropped for Letsbefrank, with York being only his seventh career start. He’s still a bit babyish.” 

At the initial entries stage for Sunday’s contest, there are 17 potential opponents for Letsbefrank, ironically including Duke Of Verona, who was the opponent to thwart Evaluation at Sandown Park in the summer of 2022. 

Many of those entered hve other options elsewhere, including Sir Mark Prescott’s True Legend, who is a possible for the Coral Summer Handicap at Goodwood on Saturday. He had no luck in running when fifth of 20 in the Northumberland Plate before subsequently running solidly when a close third in the Brown Jack at Ascot. 

Simon and Ed Crisford’s Manxman sports a 50% turf strike-rate (5-10) and, although yet to win this year, has been running well in defeat. Beaten a head by Rathgar - since successful in the Racing League at Yarmouth – on seasonal reappearance, he matched that when third to Pledgeofallegiance (the Ascot Stakes winner) and Temporize (a recent Newbury scorer) next time. He’d be a threat if opting to take his chance here instead of in the Coral Goodwood Handicap (Friday). 

Cheshire trainer Donald McCain is doubly represented by Goobinator and Sea Grey. The former, a capable dual-purpose performer, won this from a 2lb lower mark in September 2021 and has had a two-plus month break since his last appearance, while the latter has completed back-to-back wins at nearby Chester (1m6f-2m) and doesn’t appear overburdened by another 2lb rise. 

Martin Todhunter (Arrange and Arctic Fox) and Tim Easterby (Filibustering and Flickering Halo) are others with decisions to make, while Wind Your Neck In (David Evans) has related form with Diamand De Vindecy who was responsible for giving his trainer Robert Bevis his first ever Flat winner when scoring over course and distance in June. 

Race Preview: 6.15pm: Sky Bet, For The Fans Handicap, 5f (Class 2, 0-95) 

American Affair, identified as a horse to follow in Paul Mulrennan’s RacingTV.com ‘Weekly Watchlist’, kickstarted his season with a striking Sky Bet Sunday Series win at Musselburgh. The handicapper took evasive action raising him 10lb thereafter, and things didn’t fall his way – squeezed out at the start and forced to wait to make a challenge – when no match for the thriving Desperate Hero at Hamilton. 

However, in the hands of the 5lb claimer Amie Waugh, this homebred second foal from the hardy mare Classy Anne, bounced back with a bang, posting a clear career-best at Thirsk, earning a potential tilt at the £100,000 Sky Bet Sunday Series bonus. 

That Thirsk form line has been handsomely franked since via Lethal Nymph (second; since placed in the Rockingham Handicap), Fair Wind (fourth; a Class 2 Ascot Heritage Handicap winner), Bergerac (eighth; the Gosforth Park Cup winner), Ventura Express (ninth; a Beverley winner), and Tees Spirit (12th; a Class 2 Sandown winner). 

American Affair - raised 8lb to a new mark of 88 - seemingly faces a sterner test of his credentials than fellow bonus seeker Letsbefrank, with Jer Batt (third), Changeofmind (sixth), and Bergerac (eighth) potentially renewing rivalries from Thirsk on much more favourable terms. 

Add into the mix the likes of Emperor Spirit, Existent, and Woolhampton who were second, fourth, and sixth, respectively in last Saturday’s Whispering Angel Handicap at Ascot, the scale of the task facing American Affair becomes even clearer. Mercifully though for the evergreen Goldie, another potential threat, the Jump Jockeys’ Nunthorpe victor Night On Earth isn’t short on other possible options for this weekend. 

The final Sky Bet Sunday Series fixtures in 2024 takes place at Pontefract on August 18.