Neil Morrice shares all of his best bets and tips for Saturday's racing coming your way from Ascot, Haydock Park, Thirsk, Kempton Park and Wolverhampton on 9 September 2023.
ASCOT
Race 1 No8 SPUN TO GOLD (Nap)
Trainer: Andrew Balding – Jockey: David Probert
Justify colt SPUN TO GOLD was easy to back but shaped well to trouble the judge on his Kempton introduction. He faces a doughty opponent on Ghostwriter, but can prove a match for that penalised opponent.
Race 2 No3 ESCOBAR (Each Way)
Trainer David O’Meara – Jockey: Daniel Muscutt
ESCOBAR is in the twilight of his career but there could still be a tune to be played by the nine-year-old. He’s not as effective in small field which exonerates his tepid performance at Goodwood last time, but with a new pilot in the irons he can get into the shake-up.
Race 5 No7 PREPENSE
Trainer: Sir Michael Stoute – Jockey: Saffie Osborne
Another eye-opening jockey booking is Osborne on PREPENSE. She’s excelled in her riding through the summer and can prove an asset to the selection who isn’t a straightforward conveyance. The daughter of Kingman has bookended her season with successes at Newmarket and Leicester and could have more to offer in this tight-knit fillies’ handicap.
Race 6 No2 WILLEM TWEE (Each Way)
Trainer: James Fanshawe – Jockey: Daniel Muscutt
WILLEM TWEE makes a belated return to action for a trainer who is adept at getting the best out of a horse of his ilk. He looked through much of 2022 like a potential Listed class horse, and though growing into his frame a tad quicker than ideal he’s returning from almost a year off with bags of potential under the bonnet. Muscutt takes the reins having done a good job in helping educate him last year.
HAYDOCK PARK
Race 1 BEST ODDS ONTHE BETFAIR EXCHANGE SUPERIOR MILE (Group 3)
No3 CHINDIT (Nap)
Trainer: Richard Hannon – Jockey: James Doyle
Respect is paid to Regal Reality who is dangerous at the level when on song, but given his good form at a slightly higher grade CHINDIT can take the spoils. Richard Hannon’s charge hated the ground when third in Newbury’s Hungerford Stakes but had earlier chased home the top-class Modern Games in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at the same track. He will enjoy a return to a mile on better ground here.
Race 3 No15 DARK ISLAND (Each Way)
Trainer: Heather Main – Jockey: Mia Nicholls
DARK ISLAND failed to menace at Wolverhampton last time, but his earlier form on grass shows him to have been unlucky not to land at least one handicap this season. This is a more competitive assignment for the gelding but from the foot of the weights he’s capable of taking home a cheque.
Race 4 BETFRED SPRINT CUP STAKES (Group 1)
No6 RUN TO FREEDOM (Each Way)
Trainer: Henry Candy – Jockey: Trevor Whelan
Numerically this is the biggest field ever assembled for the best Flat race run at the course. What it gains in quantity it possibly loses in quality, as aside from the outstanding SHAQUILLE there are plenty of sprinters that will need to substantially raise their game if they’re to win. Of those that have competed at Group 1 level SACRED needs to bounce back from a poor showing at York where she admittedly has never fired before.
MILL STREAM was having a first run in Pattern company when scoring at Deauville and has been supplemented into the race. SPYCATCHER impressed with a Group 3 success at the same track before going down by inches in a desperate finish to the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest.
Karl Burke’s runner is a big player on that evidence, but the one I prefer is RUN TO FREEDOM. Three of his last five outings have happened in Group 1s including a second to Kinross on Champions’ Day at Ascot and second to SHAQUILLE in Newmarket’s July Cup. Shaquille sets the benchmark for the others to aim at, but with his stable noticeably quiet he could be worth taking on.
Prediction: 1st RUN TO FREEDOM, 2nd Spyctacher, 3rd Shaquille, 4th Sacred
THIRSK
Race 1 No5 PHONE TAG (Nap)
Trainer: Hugo Palmer – Jockey: Jonny Peate
PHONE TAG claimed a cheque in a hot nursery on a first run at that level when first-time blinkers appeared to assist him. Yet to be out of the money in four career starts, he rates the best bet on a tricky card for punting.
KEMPTON PARK
Race 1 UNIBET SEPTEMBER STAKES (Group 3)
No2 BAY BRIDGE (Nap)
Trainer: Sir Michael Stoute – Jockey: Richard Kingscote
Champion Stakes winner BAY BRIDGE returns from a mid-season break with all guns blazing in a mission that can set himself up for another tilt at the race that proved the highlight of his 2022 campaign. His slightly underwhelming run in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot is best overlooked as he’s benefitted from the break and looked in good heart in his winding-up gallop for this on Polytrack.
Race 4 UNIBET ZERO % MISSION SIRENIA STAKES (Group 3)
No1 ARRAY
Trainer, Andrew Balding – Jockey: PJ McDonald
ARRAY had his tall home reputation dented when beaten at Goodwood but put that blip behind him with a wide-margin conversion in a Newmarket novice. A beautifully bred individual, he gets the chance to show he’s a proper Group horse today, and can.
WOLVERHAMPTON
Race 2 No5 FLY ZONE (Nap)
Trainer: Sir Michael Stoute – Jockey: Rhys Clutterbuck
The giant FLY ZONE failed to handle the track when beaten at Brighton last time but the winner Cobalt Blue is no slouch. The selection should be happier on a conventional track and switched to sand, on which he’s worked well at home.
Race 6 No2 UNDER CURFEW
Trainer: Tony Carroll – Jockey: William Carson
UNDER CURFEW aid becoming hard to win with but the gelding can make this a seventh earning run from ten outings this season and has a better chance of putting his head in front than for a while, as most of his opponents are out of form.
