It’s been a dry night at Haydock with a sunny day ahead, so with the going upgraded to ‘good’ this morning things should quicken up ahead of the Group Two sprint at 15:10.
Gifted Master sets the bar high after five consecutive wins, so the gelding arrives in top form and is a worthy favourite.
The last horse to beat him was last year’s Coventry Stakes winner BURATINO, who drops back in trip after a disappointing run in the 2000 Guineas and can be backed at 11/2.
The jury is out on the strength of that Guineas form and I’m willing to forgive him on account of it being his first run of the year and over a trip that mightn’t have suited.
If we do ignore that run, his Royal Ascot success last season marked him as a high-class colt and he’s done little wrong since.
He ran into a superstar two-year-old, Air Force Blue, next time out when favourite for the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh, where the yielding ground would have blunted his turn of foot.
Then he only found another star two-year-old, Shalaa, half a length too good in the Group One Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket to close off his juvenile season in good style, beating today’s opponent Ajaya in the process.
Gifted Master is a tough nut to crack but his own form doesn’t add up to what Buratino has already achieved so I’m more keen on the latter at the bigger price.
The curveball is Buratino saddles a 3lb penalty for his Group Two win, but that’d still put him within a pound of Gifted Master on official ratings so I think the 11/2 about might still be value.
Finally, I’ve been tempted to back Roger Varian’s TANEEN too, as he’s easily the least exposed horse in the race and bolted up in his maiden last year.
This would be his fourth career start and he’s already had a run this season, finishing a long way behind Log Out Island at Newbury.
Watch that race and it was a freak performance from the winner, who stole 10 lengths from the field in the first furlong and never relinquished them.
Taneen missed the break, exaggerating the gap, and ran out of puff on his seasonal reappearance when trying to close – the winner had already had a run.
Varian thinks he needs fast ground which is unlikely today, but at 33/1 and with an entry in the Group One Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, he could be massively overpriced.
1pt win Buratino @11/2, 15:45 Haydock, Saturday (WillHill, free bet if 2nd)
0.5pt win Taneen @33/1, 15:45 Haydock, Saturday (BetVictor)