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Saturday 5th September

It has been a quiet time from me on the racing front but the next few weeks leading up to the Arc are stacked in quality. With the Arc in mind, a lot of eyes will be on Enable today at Kempton as we get to watch what will be almost certainly her final run on UK soil. Aside from today and leaving opinions on the Arc aside for a moment, Enable has been fantastic for racing and great credit must go to connections for keeping her in training. The fact that it is something we rarely see from the top horses on the flat is part of the reason I feel the general racing fan relate more to National Hunt racing. The truly great horses draw people to the sport, just like the stars of any sport and the longer they can perform at the highest level, the better it is for the sport. 

Moving onto today's selections and Alan King has been the first port of call in most of the staying flat handicaps this season. With that in mind, I quickly landed on Just In Time in the Old Borough Cup at Haydock (2.50) and found a number of reasons why I think he has a great chance of at least hitting the frame. His two runs this season after a long lay-off can only be described as adequate (although he wasn't beaten that far on either occasion.) but conditions should be much more favourable today. Those two runs were both over 2 miles and I think the drop in trip will definitely suit . He has won on his three previous attempts around this trip (one was over extended 14f) and his form figure on soft are 21. Finally, he has dropped another 1lb and is now just a pound higher than his last win over the extended 14f at Doncaster in September 2018. He has been very lightly raced since then as a result of his lay-off and I think he can continue his progress belatedly today. 

The Sprint Cup at Haydock (3.25) is a cracking contest and you might get different results if you ran this race a couple of times as there is little to choose between those at the top of the market. With that in mind, I felt that value was important and I felt Lope Y Fernandez was over-priced at 15/2. He has shaped like a proper Group 1 horse on a few occasions this season and today might just be the day that everything falls for him. He is sure to travel well into the race and hopefully if they go a good pace on the testing ground, they might just come back to him. My doubt about him is that he was taken off his feet in the Commonwealth Cup at Ascot but I'm willing to put a line through that run as it was his first try at a sprint distance. His last two runs in France have been filled with promise and hopefully today he might fulfil his undoubted Group 1 potential. Connections have suggested he may be a better horse in soft ground and if that is the case he is great each-way value with most firms paying four places.

1pt eway Just In Time (12/1 General) Haydock 2.50 *use firms paying 5 places, BOG firms

1pt eway Lope Y Frenandez (15/2 General) Haydock 3.25 *use firms paying 4 places, BOG firms


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