RAIN has been the constant theme recently, with the unseasonably wet weather making ground conditions difficult to predict and things particularly tough from a betting perspective.
Newbury was hit with 16mm of rain on Monday evening, turning the going soft, but the rest of the week is expected to be dry, so hopefully we can expect a decent racing surface come Saturday.
In the opening contest (1.50pm), Alyanaabi looks a standout, having two bits of top-class Group One form to his name this season.
Dropped back into Listed company for the first time, I expect Owen Burrows’ colt to be very hard to beat, especially as he receives weight from his elders, but while there’s 9/4 available in a place, he looks short enough to stop me getting involved.
Having missed the July Cup last weekend, REGIONAL is set to line up in the Hackwood Stakes (3.00pm), and I fancy his chances.
With all the rain around, the ground went against him at Newmarket, leading to him being withdrawn on the morning of the July Cup, but conditions at Newbury should be more to his liking.
Albeit competitive, his opposition is weaker in this Group Three than those he would have faced last weekend, and this will be the first time he has raced below Group Two level since last summer.
His run in the King Charles III at Ascot is an excellent piece of form as he finished best of the rest behind clearcut Australian-trained winner Asfoora.
Before that he finished a narrow second in the Greenland Stakes at the Curragh, when he appeared to be in need of the run.
Considering the best three-year-old sprinters came up short against their elders in the July Cup, the younger generation in here look likely to struggle to land a blow.
His main rival among the older horses is probably Diligent Harry, who finished second in this race 12 months ago, but Regional looks to have his measure on ratings and form.
A similar performance to either of his two starts so far this season would make him hard to beat, and I think the 3/1 on offer is a very fair price.
If you were to put money on one place in the UK seeing rain on Saturday you may well think of KYLE OF LOCHALSH, a Scottish village overlooking the Isle of Skye.
However, a better bet may be on Hughie Morrison’s runner of the same name in the Mettal UK Handicap (2.25pm) at Newbury.
This well-named son of Highland Reel appears to be improving at a rate of knots and having won impressively on soft ground at Salisbury two starts ago won’t mind if the rain falls, while also appearing to be equally happy on a sounder surface.
That was evidenced by a fine run next time out on quicker going at Ascot, where he stayed on powerfully to run into third over 2m4f.
Given he was held up well off the pace there and tried to thread a near impossible passage between rivals in the home straight, it’s a run that I’m keen to upgrade.
He’s been shoved up another couple of pounds by the handicapper after that, but this four-year-old has only had 13 starts to date and should be capable of finding the necessary improvement to defy a mark of 97.
With 8/1 looking an excellent each way price, we may all be dancing a highland reel come Saturday mid-afternoon.
POINTERS SATURDAY
Kyle Of Lochalsh e/w 2.25pm Newbury
Regional 3.00pm Newbury