BORDERLESCOTT was an impressive winner on his reappearance at Musselburgh recently and can follow up in the betfred.com Temple Stakes (3.35pm) at Haydock Park tomorrow.
The gelding was registering his first success over the minimum trip when scoring on the East Lothian track and he again faces five furlongs in this Group Two event, but he will be suited by the stiff Lancashire track.
The six-year-old has alread
y proved himself a classy sprinter and his eight victories include the Stewards Cup at Goodwood and runner-up in the Ayr Gold Cup a couple of seasons ago. He was beaten by a whisker in the big Goodwood sprint last summer when he was also placed several times in Listed company and had been working well on trips to the all-weather track at Southwell before his comfortable Musselburgh success.
He beat Desert Lord by a length and a half there and can confirm the form. That rival has some very good form at the highest level, winning the Prix de l'Abbaye in Paris a couple of seasons ago and was placed in that Group One event last autumn.
Reverence bounced back to form with a victory over six furlongs on this course a fortnight ago and connections will be hoping for rain as he is a much better horse with some give in the ground.
He won this race at Sandown two years ago and added the Group One Nunthorpe Stakes at York and the Group One Haydock Sprint that year, before injury sidelined him for eight months and he failed to score in three outings last term.
But trainer Eric Alston has nursed him back full fitness and he must go well – a remark which applies to Sir Gerry, the mount of Jamie Spencer.
The three-year-old won the Gimcrack Stakes at York last year and showed a real turn of speed to win a Listed prize at Ascot recently, but has never raced over the minimum trip.
Tax Free has won ten of his 26 races and those victories include Listed and Group prizes here, in Ireland and in France. He has been runner-up twice in Ireland this spring, while Off The Record won a competitive sprint at Newmarket recently.
Enticing is another with lots of pace, but Borderlescott is tough and can prove a value-for-money each way bet.
Commander Cave is unbeaten in the starts this year and will be fancied for the valuable (3.05pm) on the Lancashire track, but I prefer the chances of Virtual who was runner-up in both his juvenile starts before opening his account on his reappearance at Newmarket in April.
He should handle the step up to a mile, comes from the John Gosden stable, which is in great form, and will have Spencer on board.
It's worth noting that Gosden's stable jockey, Jimmy Fortune, prefers to go to Newmarket where he can win the Coral.co.uk Sprint (3.20pm) on Prohibit.
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