"Arc" trial at Newbury

some good racing today and pride of place goes to Newbury, where the main feature is the Dubai Duty Free Arc Trial over 11 furlongs at 16.10 CET. To be honest, this event rarely has any bearing on the Longchamp race, but it has still attracted some smart runners, notably Godolphin´s Campanologist (Saeed bin Suroor/ Ted Durcan), who comes here on the back of two German Group One victories - at Hamburg and Cologne. As a result, he has to concede upwards of 7 lbs all round, which will be far from easy. Rainbow Peak (Michael Jarvis/ Neil Callan) is one obvious danger. He is now stepping up in class, but has done nothing wrong so far, having won all his 3 races last year and this year finishing first or second every time. Much-travelled Halicarnassus (Mick Channon/ Sam Hitchcott) could also go well over a distance which might be ideal, while Bauer on his old form (e.g. when runner-up in the 2008 Melbourne Gold Cup) is another threat. However Campanologoist seems much improved this season and we hope to see him uphold the value of the German form.
The main supporting feature is the Dubai Duty Free Cup over 7 furlongs at 15.35. This is only a listed race, but in fact has a better field than many group races. Three runners stand out - Godolphin´s Delegator, who has the top rating but has not been seen since running 5th to Goldikova in the Breeders Cup Mile last autumn; the very consistent Yaa Wayl (Jarvis/ Callan), who has been in the money all 10 career starts and is a distance specialist; and Awzaan (Mark Johnston/ Richard Hills), one of last season´s top juveniles who now seems to be coming back to form. It is a tricky race, but we expect one of this trio to win and go for Delegator.
Although they are not really good betting propositions, the 2yo races here should be watched cerefully, as some interesting prospects from big stables are entered, and in particular the mile race at 16.45 is almost always won by a top performer. Another to be watched is German-bred Oldrick (Philip Hobbs/ Jamie Spencer) who runs in the 1 1/2 mile handicap at 18.30. He has not run on the flat for 2 years, but his trainer is always be feared.