We’ve seen Peter Bowen do well with stable-switchers over the years - a 24% first time up strike rate can attest to that - and there’s no reason to think that now Mickey Bowen has taken over the reins, things should be any different. With that, Broughshane, formerly with Jonjo O’Neill but having his first start for the Bowens today, might be the one to be with.
Broughshane lost his way in the spring when put to fences before new connections paid £23k for him at the sales in May, and Bowen is quick to reach for blinkers. It’s worth noting that the Bowen stable has an excellent record at this fixture and this is unlikely to be a ‘suck it and see’ run for Broughshane given he’s been with the stable a couple of months already and the use of severe headgear suggests intent.
Plenty of these towards the front of the market ideally want better ground than they’re likely to get here, with the rain due to start at Rasen around 9am tomorrow, and if the forecast is right, it isn’t going to stop. That includes last year’s winner and second Castel Gandolfo and Kihavah, and whilst the former has an excellent Market Rasen record, soft ground would be a real negative.
Cavern Club handles quicker ground but three of his last four wins have come on soft and he bounced back to his best when winning on the Flat at Chester last time when coping with attritional conditions better than his rivals. He is 6lb above his winning mark in this sphere but has little handicap experience over timber and his Flat profile suggests he may do better yet.
Again, soft ground would be against a few of these, too, but for all Sure Touch won this on good ground last year, he doesn’t need it quicker to show his best, winning at Uttoxeter and Perth in the 23/24 season on soft and heavy ground. After he won here last year, he found himself on a mark too high and was tricky to place, but he’s now back on a mark he can work from, a pound lower than last year’s win, and some cheekpieces might well aid him too.
The other one of interest should the ground ride soft is Horantzau d’Airy, who won his first two chases in soft/heavy for Willie Mullins before being given a stiff handicap mark after a good second in the Kerry National last autumn. He got back to form from a reduced mark when runner-up for Michael Keady at Uttoxeter last time and is just the type that Sarah Bradstock does well with, so makes appeal on debut for another new yard now.
There’s rain and that brings Bolster into play here. He’s got a bit to find on the ratings, but Karl Burke’s charge is suited by some ease in the ground, and his full record over 10f on yielding/soft ground reads five starts, four wins. That makes him of interest here, with his consistency in the conditions the key. He didn’t stay a mile and a half in the Tapster Stakes behind Hamish last time, but this drop back in trip can see him bounce back to form.
Kyle Of Lochalsh acts well on a softish surface and two runs at Newbury have seen a winner, and a third in this race last year. He was placed in the Goodwood Stakes subsequently and also in the Listed Prix Scaramouche at Saint-Cloud, and a recent run on Tapeta at Southwell should have blown a few cobwebs away. He has a good record when switching form the all-weather to turf too, having won at Salisbury last year after finishing well beaten at Newcastle on Good Friday, and he should do better here.
Kind of Blue has been miles below his best in two starts this year and is impossible to back with any confidence as a result, with his temperament now as much of a worry as his form. Regional has obvious claims but it’s debatable whether those claims would be enhanced by rain, whereas Fair Angelica would definitely benefit from the forecast showers and has form figures on good or softer ground of 1214.
Richard Hughes is having a fine time with his sprinting fillies, and while Fair Angelica has done a lot of her racing over seven furlongs, she was a Listed winner over this trip at Salisbury in May, showing that she is versatile as well as reliable. Fair Angelica flopped behind a few of these in the Chipchase at Newcastle last time, but that was a rare poor effort and it’s worth noting that her only other below-par efforts in recent times also came on Tapeta at Wolverhampton, suggesting the surface is not ideal for her.
High numbers often have an edge in big fields for this contest, with the winner coming from 16, 15, 21, 18 and 10 in the last five years. I’d also like to find a horse that can handle some cut given the forecast, so Anthelia makes plenty of appeal from stall 16, particularly as her only run on yielding ground saw her win the National Stakes at Sandown. Her trainer Rod Millman has a remarkably good record with cheap buys in this contest, winning with Lord Kintyre and Bettys Hope and hitting the frame multiple times. Millman looks to buy speedy juveniles with this race in mind and has uncovered another likely sort in the shape of Anthelia, who has the class to win at Listed level but receives weight from all but a handful of her rivals here
Preview posted 0905 BST on 19/07/25
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