Sky Sports Racing’s Elliot David is back with five horses to keep on your side at Windsor on Monday evening.
Estate
Harpers Horsing Around 30th Anniversary Cup Handicap (5.10)
There looks to be an overload of pace on here among the nine-runner field and though a Windsor track riding Good to Firm can sometimes be something of a pace highway along the stands side rail, there’s a distinct possibility of a fierce early battle for the lead that sets it up for a closer.
At least four of these sprinters have shown a liking for racing prominently, most notably Secret Mistral, Erosion Risk and Unlimited Data. The trio are drawn alongside each other in stalls 3, 4 and 5 and with fellow pacy sprinters drawn in 1 and 2 the five could, at least in theory, set it up nicely for William Buick aboard ESTATE.
Andrew Balding’s runner has some respectable form this season and has arguably been unfortunate to not have registered further success. In five starts, he’s twice found both Michael Dods’ Tatterstall and the Crisfords’ Spartan Arrow too good, but those progressive three-year-olds look destined to contest a higher grade than this.
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He now gets what is a fairly significant drop in class, back to the level of his Salisbury win on May 27 and if the race plays out as expected, ought to have more to give.
Image: Champion jockey William Buick is booked to ride Andrew Balding's Estate on Monday
Johnny Johnson
British EBF Restricted Maiden Stakes (5.45)
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Rod Millman’s two-year-old son of Due Diligence put in a much-improved effort over Salisbury’s six-furlong trip on June 13 when going down fighting to a Clive Cox-trained debutant who looked useful. Most notable that day was his keen going nature, seeing him race freely from the front before going clear two furlongs out, just getting collared late on.
Salisbury is a galloping track with a largely uphill finish that makes for a stiff test and I think his stamina just gave out having raced as freely as he did. This drop back down to five furlongs at a track that can favour pace could, theoretically, be perfect for him from a decent draw in stall 6.
Both Band Of Joy (second) and Acer (third) ran well in a course and distance maiden on June 19 and having overcome a slow start that day and made up several lengths on the runner-up, preference would possibly be for the latter to now reverse that form and provide the sternest threat to the selection.
Cherry
Download Fitzdares For Free Race Streaming Maiden Stakes (6.15)
With her recent Chelmsford second in behind Sir Michael Stoute’s Long Ago seemingly a strong piece of form, this could be all about Ralph Beckett’s CHERRY as the daughter of Dubawi seeks a first career victory.
She showed improvement for the step up to 10f that day but found just one too good as the pair pulled four lengths clear of another Beckett runner in third. With Long Ago conceding 7lb to see off a 90-rated rival at Nottingham on June 29 it looks a potentially high level of form that’ll take some beating here.
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Aphelios
Fitzdares Sprint Series Handicap (6.45)
These Qualifiers for the Windsor Sprint Series are notoriously difficult and Monday’s renewal looks no different. However, with his last run entirely excusable I think there’s a lot to be said for the consistency of Mick Appleby’s APHELIOS, who may have more to give from a mark of 89.
Until that run on April 19, the son of Kodiac was yet to finish outside the three in 12 career starts which is remarkable consistency. The poor run is easily excusable, with the four-year-old having scoped dirty in a post-race endoscopic exam at a time the yard’s runners were under a cloud. As shown below, the yard’s form has turned inside out since the beginning of June when reportedly over a bug that had been troubling many of their runners.
He’d run two career-best efforts at the back end of the 2022 campaign when winning at Kempton in October before a fine third at the same venue in November. At the time, this was clearly a progressive sprinter.
Many of his opponents arrive with questions to answer, with formerly reliable campaigners Lethal Nymph and Silver Samurai out of form, the latter relying on a first-time tongue tie to spark something. His potential rival for the lead in Mister Bluebird is drawn widest of all in stall 9 so perhaps therefore his key rival is Ed Dunlop’s Sterling Knight, whose recent Qualifier win on June 19 was boosted by the runner-up. While he steps up in class, a 3lb rise for that victory wasn’t harsh and he’s at least in form.
Sydney Mews
Play With The Finest Bookmaker, Fitzdares Fillies’ Handicap (7.15)
The three-year-old generation has utterly dominated this contest in the last decade, winning each of the last eight renewals. During that period, older horses have mustered just six places from 29 total runners. Each of the last two have gone the way of Andrew Balding and his runner SYDNEY MEWS makes good appeal under Tom Marquand.
It wasn’t until trying 10 furlongs late in her two-year-old season that we saw something close to her best, with a narrow second to Jonathan Portman’s Enochdhu here on October 3. Two soft ground runs in April and May saw her getting stuck in the mud and a return to better ground saw a return to form on June 10.
That run saw her never nearer than her three-and-a-half lengths fourth at the finish, but certainly signalled her liking for better ground and the likelihood of more to come from her current mark of 70.
Watch every race from Windsor all live on Sky Sports Racing on Monday, July 3.
Sourse: skysports.com
