The mud-loving Fascinating Rock looks tough to oppose in the Group Three Winter Hill Stakes at Windsor. He finished a neck-second to last year’s winner, Al Kazeem, in the Group One Tattersalls Gold Cup earlier in the season and hasn’t been seen since – presumably due to dry ground. King George winner Postponed was a short-head back in third that day, with multiple-Group One winner The Grey Gatsby back in fourth. That’s top-class form, but his 4lb Group Three penalty puts him top of the weights for this, bringing others into contention.
I’d be surprised if any of the handicappers – Master Carpenter, Rembrandt Van Rijn and Collaboration – are up to this, which narrows things down somewhat. I backed Cannock Chase in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, where he was boxed in and couldn’t deliver his challenge, but the form of that race hasn’t worked out with none winning since and he looks held by Fascinating Rock with a line through The Grey Gatsby.
The three-year-old Not So Sleepy receives 12lbs from the favourite and will relish the ground if it stays testing. The form is patchy and at his best he hasn’t beaten much, but, raced just four times, there’s plenty of scope for improvement and, at a big price, he could be a player.
I prefer the chances of the other three-year-old, Racing History, who has bolted up on his last two starts and looks versatile regarding ground. His sire, Pivotal, won the five-furlong Nunthorpe and King’s Stand and he’s certainly inherited his turn of foot. Full siblings Basem and Welcome Gift have both won on an easy surface so the going isn’t of concern. He’s raced very greenly so far and has huge scope for improvement on just his fourth start, so the 8/1 looks too good to ignore.
1pt win Racing History @8/1, Windsor [18:35, Aug 29th]
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Keep up the good work!