Take Cover looks set to blaze a trail from stall two in the Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes on Saturday. The last five winners of this race have been drawn in stall four or lower so he may have a small advantage after he bombed out in the Nunthorpe last weekend.
It’s slightly surprising to see that this is his first attempt on the track at the ripe old age of ten, and he’s lost his usual rider in David Allan with Tom Queally stepping in to take the mount. That’s not necessarily a negative, but the track is one of the stiffest and he has generally produced his best over flatter or downhill tracks such as York and Goodwood respectively so he may not quite get home.
He could provide just to the toe into the race for the likes of Kimberella, who is a firm favourite of ours. Richard Fahey’s gelding has been in cracking form this year as he picked up his first Listed success a couple of starts ago over six furlongs at Chester.
There is a slight suspicion that he might be a bit better over six furlongs these days with a record of 3/22 over five. He also looked a bit lacklustre in the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh last time but on a stiff track, I am sure he will go close.
Last year’s winner Alpha Delphini looks set to put up a bold show as he receives 3lbs from his fellow market rivals. He would look very appealing at the prices and at the weights, if he wasn’t drawn out in stall eleven, which makes it a very difficult task to repeat last season’s success.
FINAL VENTURE lined up in stall nine last year, running a cracker to finish just behind Alpha Delphini in second by a short-head. He meets that rival on 3lb worse terms here due to a Listed race win at Haydock in June, but he finished ahead of him last week at York on level-weights and he has been running well in much higher graded races for most of this campaign.
Final Venture has been an improved five furlong sprinter this year having benefitted from the move to Paul Midgley’s yard last December. He picked up two big prizes out in Dubai before running a good fourth in the Group 2 Temple Stakes behind Priceless earlier in the season.
Final Venture also shaped quite well in the Group 1 Kings Stand at Royal Ascot before eventually finishing 9/17, and he ran a close second to Take Cover when going down by half-a-length at York in a Listed race in July. Final Venture races on 3lbs better terms for that race, and Take Cover could help set the race up for him at the finish.
This is much calmer waters for Final Venture, who’s yard has a 28.6% strike rate during the last fortnight. Luke Morris has also got a pretty good record for the yard adding another win with Desert Law last weekend, who is back for more.
Final Venture looks well-up to this level for win purposes, and with his trainer commenting that he is in “unbelievable form” after the Nunthorpe, we are hoping for a big run.
1pt win Final Venture @5/1, 15:15 Beverley, Saturday (various bookmakers)
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