The Verdict Extra: Crazy Luck worth try at Listed level

Minzaal produced a top-class performance at Haydock on Saturday. In fact, as highlighted in The Verdict, I believe his effort marks him out as being the best sprinter we have seen this season, and that belief is backed up by the Course Track sectionals.

Four more races in this column for you to digest, starting with:

Another Romance bounced back to form to land the six-furlong “Lochsong” Fillies’ Handicap at Salisbury last week.

It was a tremendous effort from the winner, but the Coursetrack sectionals point to the fourth, Crazy Luck, as being a horse for your Racing TV Tracker.

This was not a strongly run sprint as it was a bit stop-start in nature, and thus the Finishing Speed percentage (FSP) of 104.57% tells us that Another Romance ran the final three furlongs 4.57% quicker than the first three furlongs.

Given the pace of the race, positioning was crucial and the winner was ideally placed to strike, travelling just behind the leaders.

In the penultimate furlong (F5) Another Romance quickened sharply with an 11.16s furlong, and this helped her to be the fastest horse in the race through the final three furlongs at 34.67s.

This strong finish suggests she is at the top of her game and worth a try in Listed company.

Crazy Luck has had no luck of late and was not seen to best effect again here.

Held up in a race where it paid to be handy, she was the fastest horse in the race through F5 with a Coursetrack sectional of 11.11s. That was an impressive turn of speed but, given her position, she had too much to do.

Crazy Luck’s final three furlongs was the second best in the race behind the winner, as detailed below.

Another romance: 34.67s

Crazy luck: 34.79s

She is capable of winning her third handicap of the season for the in-form Rod Millman team in the near future.

The Unibet Mile London Mile Series Final Handicap at Kempton on Saturday was typically competitive. It was, however, dominated by contenders who were ridden prominently and First View was flattered to win, a success that can be put down to pace and position.

He was ridden prominently in a race that was not strongly run, as evidenced by the FSP of 104.03%. From an advantageous position, he sealed the deal in F6 and F7 where he showed sustained speed when clocking furlongs of 11.64s and 11.74s.

That said, the Coursetrack sectionals reveal that eight of his rivals ran their final three furlongs quicker than him; a stark example of positional advantage.

Of those eight strong finishers, the one that stands out as a future winner is Fantasy Believer. He did best of the hold-up performers and he was the fastest in the race through the final three furlongs. Contrast with the winner is shown below.

First View: 35.70s

Fantasy Believer: 35.26s

A note can also be made of On A Session who, like Fantasy Believer, finished well from off the pace. This six-year-old finished seventh yet ran the fastest final furlong in the race at 12.00s.

A race to be slightly cautious about, certainly in terms of the winner backing this effort up, but Fantasy Believer and On a session shaped as though they are in good form and should be followed.

This four-year-old is my idea of a bet this week should he fulfil an entry at Chester on Saturday.

Sometimes, the Coursetrack sectionals point to horses who have produced noteworthy efforts that may have been missed. In this case, though, there was nothing hidden about what this horse did at York on Sunday and, in short, he was completely dominant.

This was a strongly run, ten-furlong contest with most horses in the race posting a sub 100 FSP, but the winner finished the race strongly compared to his rivals recording an FSP of 103.59%.

It can be argued that just a 4lb rise for his previous win at Redcar was generous, and even a 6lb penalty on Saturday should not stop him.

His final 3F was impressive at 36.95s, given that only one other rival in the race was able to dip under 38.00s. If you boil down the figure to individual furlongs, you will see that his eighth furlong of 11.26s displayed an impressive turn of foot and was much quicker than his rivals. He was also much quicker than them all in the ninth furlong with a 12.12s split.

He is unexposed over ten furlongs and has won both his starts over this trip. I am confident he can make it three at Chester on Saturday, as long as the draw is kind to him.

Persist won the last race at Haydock on Thursday by a neck, yet I believe she is miles better than the bare result and can develop into as Group performer, even though this was just a handicap that she won off a rating of 85.

The race is worth watching again (above). When the stalls opened, she was very slowly into stride, ceding her rivals five lengths, and she did remarkably well to win coming from last to first, given the race was steadily run.

The FSP of 108.73% shows the slow to fast nature of this race and the early sectionals tell us just how steady they went, with the first six furlongs pedestrian at best. The Coursetrack sectionals neatly highlight this as follows.

F3 : 12.78s

F4 : 12.96s

F5 : 12.97s

F6 : 11.66s ( where the sprint began )

Persist had to run down the whole field whilst they were quickening and she did so with an electric turn of foot. She was fastest through F8 (11.02s) and F9 (11.24s). A surge that took her to the front and, despite paying for that effort and running the final furlong in 12.19s, she held on to win.

This was a big effort from a filly who overcame a positional disadvantage with a lightning-quick turn of pace. If she had a strong gallop to aim at, I believe she would have won easily.

She seems to have made a habit of starting slowly, and that is a worry, but the raw ability is there to take her well away from handicap company. It should be noted that her dam was a Group One winner.