Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury

The Weatherbys Super Sprint, run this afternoon at 16.30 CET for 2yo´s over 5 furlongs at Newbury, is always of the most hotly-contested 2yo races of the season. With total prize-money of 200,000 GBP this is not suprising and today 25 juveniles will be running for a slice of that fat cake. Richard Hannon has a good record in this but it is not easy to choose between his 4 runners; Eureka (Richard Hughes) and Redact (Ryan Moore) would appear to have the best chances, and both are unbeaten after 2 starts. Tim Easterby also does well in this, and as he has only one runner, the lightly-weighted Ponty Acclaim (Duran Fentiman) the choice is easier. Richard Fahey also has 4 runners here, with stable jockey Paul Hanagan riding Lily´s Angel, who has already won 4 races including a listed event at Newmarket. With a large weight range and uncertainty about the draw, this is tricky, but we think that Ponty Acclaim is a decent bet at the likely odds.

Also at Newbury, the Group Three Hackwood Stakes over 6 furlongs is another hot sprint, although this time with only 10 runners. The 3yo´s Cape to Rio (Jamie Spencer) and Retainer (Jimmy Fortune), both trained by Hannon, cannot be ignored but we prefer the older horses. Regal Parade (David and Adrian Nicholls) won this last year and is always a factor in these big sprints, while Markab (Henry Candy/Dane O´Neill) was the beaten favourite in this a year ago and then beat Regal Parade in the Haydock Group One; with the stable doing well, he just gets our vote.
The listed race over 10 furlongs here at 17.05 is another tough race, but whenever Alain de Royer-Dupré sends a runner to England he should always be followed. In this case it is the Aga Khan´ s Shimraan (Gerald Mosse´), winner of last year´s Prix Eugene Adam, form which should suffice here, even though he has not run since October.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Coupe De Ville - Leqqaa - Letsgoroundagain
2. Race: Deacon Blues - Markab - Regal Parade
3. Race: Heavenly Dawn - Belle Royale - Byrony
4. Race: Eureka - Lily`S Angel - Redact
5. Race: Shimraan - Elusive Pimpernel - Dux Scholar
6. Race: Fury - King Of Jazz - Eucharist
7. Race: Keys - Taikoo - Cosimo De Medici