Dubai: Godolphin’s Harry Angel heads a star-studded cast of speedballs being assembled for Saturday’s Group 1 Sprint Cup, the showpiece race at Haydock Park in the north-west of England.
The Clive Cox-trained son of Dark Angel is the resolute market leader to give Godolphin a second success in the six-furlong contest since Diktat in 1999.
With 20 confirmations going forward on Tuesday, the £260,000 (Dh1.23 million) Sprint Cup, which forms part of the British Champions Sprint Series, looks set for a vintage renewal
Harry Angel was last seen out when winning the Group 1 Darley July Cup over six furlongs at Newmarket on July 15 by a length and a quarter from the 2016 winner Limato, who is also headed to Haydock this weekend.
The Godolphin-owned colt is also a course and distance winner this season, having broken the time in the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes at on May 27.
Godolphin is also set to be represented by the Charlie Appleby-trained Blue Point who defeated Harry Angel by a length and a half in the Group 3 Pavilion Stakes at Ascot in May before finishing a place behind the same rival when the pair were second and third respectively to the Aidan O’Brien-trained Caravaggio in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot in June.
Caravaggio was subsequently fourth in the July Cup and sixth to Brando in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest over an extended six furlongs at Deauville on August 6.
Aidan O’Brien has also left in Washington DC (20/1), Spirit Of Valor (20/1), Cougar Mountain (50/1) and Intelligence Cross (50/1).
Newmarket-based James Fanshawe won the race in 2012 with Society Rock and has another leading contender this year in The Tin Man (8/1). The five-year-old is a dual Group 1 winner over six furlongs at Ascot.
Fanshawe reported today: “The Tin Man is fine. He worked on Saturday and we are looking forward to running him in the 32Red Sprint Cup at Haydock Park.
“I don’t think he wants extremes of going, but we wouldn’t mind a drop of rain ahead of Saturday. He is in good form. I don’t want to make excuses for his last run when obviously he didn’t run so well. We just want to get him back on track at Haydock this weekend.”
Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, won the July cup back in 1990 with the brilliant Dayjur, and looks to have strong claims of adding to that success with the William Haggas-trained Tasleet.
The four-year-old will be looking to make amends for a disappointing effort in the Darley July Cup, having previously won the Group 2 Duke Of York Stakes in May.
Angus Gold, racing manager to ShaikhHamdan said today: “We gave Tasleet a bit of a break after Newmarket.
“Although he has never handled Newmarket particularly well, he was too keen in the July Cup and did not finish his race out. He just wasn’t himself.
“I think on his best form he should run a very decent race in the 32Red Sprint Cup. He proved at York and Ascot that he is a very good horse and, if there is a bit of ease in the ground, he won’t mind it.
“Whether he is good enough to beat Harry Angel and Brando, we will have to wait and see, but he is definitely in the mix.”
Jason Fildes, general manager of Haydock Park Racecourse, said: “We are all set for a vintage renewal of the Sprint Cup at Haydock Park on Saturday. The contest looks set to be a real clash of the generations with a strong three-year-old challenge including Harry Angel, who recorded an outstanding victory in the Sandy Lane Stakes here at Haydock Park earlier in the season plus Blue Point and Caravaggio set to meet the cream of the older generation, led by Brando, Tasleet, The Tin Man and Limato. Whoever comes out on top in the 32Red Sprint must have strong claims to be the champion sprinter of 2017.”
