Busy Sunday

Four runners for the yard at Salisbury on Sunday and hopefully the 10mm of rain Salisbury received yesterday afternoon has eased the ground slightly, as none of the runners will want it rattling fast.

We are looking forward to Marcano returning to the track, having run such a promising race at Newbury on his debut. The form of that contest has worked out well, with the first, second and fourth all running creditably at Royal Ascot. As most of our two-year-olds improve plenty for their first outing, we are hopeful of a big run. His pedigree suggests that the step up to seven furlongs will be ideal. Obviously the Richard Hannon trained Misterioso, a £130,000 yearling purchase, could be anything, the chosen mount of Richard Hughes from three stable runners and is very strong in the market this morning.

Icebuster has been a little disappointing in recent months, sometimes blowing the race with very slow starts. However, it was a step back in the right direction when second over twelve furlongs at Salisbury two weeks ago. George Baker felt that the ground was plenty quick enough for him on that day but it was not a bad effort and with six withdrawals already leaving just five runners, it is likely he will take his chance. Although 1m6f is a bit of a question mark, the fact there is a flag start will be a bonus and in an open contest he has every chance.

We have two runners in the finale, a hands and heels contest. Dylan Centenary ran well when fourth in a similar race under Sophie Killoran, who was having her first ride on that occasion. This race looks even weaker and Dylan is an uncomplicated horse so should not be too far away once again. Eugenic has been disappointing as he works nicely at home but has not really reproduced it on the track so far, failing to build on a promising fourth at Chepstow. The main issue is whether he will stay a mile as his pedigree suggests he is a sprinter but has lacked speed on recent starts. It would be great if either of them were off the mark!