Racing To School Novice Stakes (Plus 10)

Off time: 14:24 | Winning time: 2m 31.44s

Settings

Selected odds by:

(6)

Ezzrah

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: D C Costello| T: M Walford

66/1

Garswood gelding; 12,000gns yearling; fourth foal; half-brother to the 1m4f winner Jeremiah; likely to prove stronger with the benefit of this initial experience banked; stablemate of Vintage Rose.

Form:

(4)

Geomatrician²⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: David Probert| T: A M Balding

6/1

€95,000 yearling; beaten almost 10L by Logician when finishing fourth on his second start at Newbury (1m2f, good), but that did represent a step forward on his debut run over 1m; half-brother to the 1m4f winner All Of Me (among others).

Form: 04

(3)

Grenadier Guard⁷

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: F Norton| T: C & M Johnston

7/2

Australia colt; 125,000gns yearling; closely related to the top-class stayer Order Of St George; 14/1 when a noted close fourth to three above average (and more experienced) rivals on debut at Ripon (1m2f, good to soft) last week; interesting.

Form: 4

(2)

Navajo Pass²⁴⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: D Nolan| T: D McCain Jnr

25/1

Nathaniel gelding from a 1m3f winning dam (Navajo Charm); 68,000gns yearling; showed inexperience but kept on well to finish 2L third to Awe on debut at Redcar (7f, good) last October; further improvement likely.

Form: 3-

(7)

Swift Wing³³

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: R Havlin| T: J & T Gosden

8/15

Smartly-bred Pivotal colt, seventh foal; brother to Group 2 winners Eagle Top, Wings Of Desire and The Lark; looked far from the finished article when posting a promising third to stablemate Kesia on debut at Ascot (1m4f, soft).

Form: 3

(1)

Sweet Dreamer¹³

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: C Lee| T: K R Burke

50/1

Harbour Watch filly; 66/1 when finishing last of four on debut at Wetherby (1m, good to firm) 13 days ago and plenty of others hold stronger claims here as a result.

Form: 4

(5)

Vintage Rose⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: K Stott| T: M Walford

66/1

Cityscape filly who has run to a similar level of form in both starts to date, including when finishing down the field over C&D last Friday (heavy); stablemate of Ezzrah and an equally unlikely winner.

Form: 58

Forecasts

Swift Wing (8/15), Grenadier Guard (7/2), Geomatrician (6/1), Navajo Pass (25/1), Sweet Dreamer (50/1), Vintage Rose (66/1), Ezzrah (66/1)

With racing taking place here at Haydock last weekend, the ground already described as heavy and with more rain in the forecast, conditions will be extremely testing. However, this opener looks to be a really interesting race on paper. Both Navajo Pass and Geomatrician will undoubtedly be winning races soon, but the pair on which to focus on this occasion are Grenadier Guard and SWIFT WING. The former was an eye-catching fourth at Ripon last week, while the latter hails from an exceptional family line, and in finishing third to a stablemate on debut at Ascot certainly gave the impression that he'd be far wiser for his next racecourse visit.