Alex Hammond: Up for the Cup?

Our columnist reflects on last weekend's key action at Newcastle and the Curragh and looks ahead to Sandown and Haydock on Saturday.

The weekend focus in England fell on the Northumberland Plate at Newcastle, where favourite Withhold made all for a comfortable win. How impressed were you with this effort on his first start of the season?

He was impressive and I'm a bit annoyed with myself that I let his price put me off backing him. It's easy to try and find 'value' in a race when you consider the ante-post favourite looks short enough in the market, but sometimes they aren't a false price and this chap fell into that category.

He was that price because he had been well supported and deservedly so and with hindsight a 5/1 winner would have done very nicely. He hadn't been seen on track since winning the Cesarewitch last autumn and although trainer Roger Charlton felt he had got him fit at home, this run is bound to bring him on mentally and physically.

It seems connections are now working backwards from the Melbourne Cup (first Tuesday in November) and he will need to go up the weights again to get into another famous handicap, but I'd expect that won't be a problem as he looks very smart and will be taking the step up into Group company in the near future. He's currently 16/1 with Sky Bet for the Melbourne Cup.

Latrobe won the Irish Derby for Joseph and Donnacha O'Brien - was this a sub-standard renewal in your view?

I'm not sure it was sub-standard, but in some ways it was a bit of a messy race. I think the winner has plenty of class, but crucially he is also gutsy and he has improved for the step up to a mile-and-a-half.

That's not something you could say about 2000 Guineas winner Saxon Warrior, the step up to 12 furlongs has been his undoing and it's interesting he is still in this weekend's Coral-Eclipse at Sandown over a mile and a quarter.

That may be too quick a turnaround for Aidan O'Brien's one-time Triple Crown hope, but if he comes out of the Curragh race well, he could be diverted to Sandown for a crack at the valuable prize.

The Juddmonte International at York was mentioned after Saturday's third placed effort, but it must be tempting to head to Esher this weekend first.

Anyway, more on the Eclipse in a moment, back to Latrobe.

It's possible he could end up in Melbourne with Withhold in November and he's now 25/1 with Sky Bet for the "race that stops a nation". It's a contest his trainer Joseph O'Brien won last year of course and his owner Lloyd Williams landed it a remarkable six times, so he would be keen to head to Flemington with a live chance again.

That will be determined by how much weight the handicapper gives this Classic winner.

How do you reflect on Saxon Warrior's season so far and do you consider him a serious candidate for the Juddmonte International at York next month?

Back to Saxon Warrior then. He's been disappointing twice, both over a mile-and-a-half and despite his pedigree suggesting that the trip should suit him, it clearly doesn't at this stage of his career. He could turn up at Sandown on Saturday, although that doesn't really seem Aidan O'Brien's style with a horse of this calibre and the York race in August would seem the perfect contest for him.

Mind you, I wouldn't mind seeing him at Goodwood in the Sussex Stakes over a mile first; that race is three weeks before the Group One on the Knavesmire.

He's currently 8/1 with Sky Bet for the Sussex if he drops back to the trip that suited him so well at Newmarket and 7/1 for York.

If Enable is back and firing on all cylinders in the Juddmonte International then I wouldn't be keen to take her on with Saxon Warrior, or anything else for that matter, despite the Classic crop getting a weight concession from their elders.

How do you weigh up Saturday's Coral-Eclipse clash and could anything else muscle in to get the better of the star three-year-old colts Masar and Roaring Lion?

Well the three-year-olds appear to hold the key to Sandown's rich prize with the two aforementioned colts dominating the betting at 5/4 and 2/1 respectively with Sky Bet.

Another member of the Classic generation, Happily, is the shortest priced runner from the Aidan O'Brien camp at 5s, followed by stablemate Saxon Warrior a 7/1 shot. Cliffs Of Moher, Forest Ranger and previous Eclipse winner Hawksbill will all have to give weight to their more fancied rivals if they are to win.

I'm inclined to take on Masar with Roaring Lion here as he looks tailor made for the trip and I'm hoping that sees him reverse the form with the Investec Derby winner.

So, subsequent Epsom winner Masar had the fitness edge on John Gosden's colt when he won the Craven in the spring and the mile of the Guineas was probably still too sharp for Roaring Lion.

He subsequently won the Dante over Saturday's trip and was stretched out over 12 furlongs at Epsom. This looks his optimum trip and I'm happy to take on the favourite with him here.

What else takes your eye on the weekend racecards at this stage?

I'm not losing faith in Escobar yet despite it looking like there were no excuses for David O'Meara's horse in the ultra-competitive Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot. He finished 11th of the 30 runners, so not disgraced and I think there's a valuable handicap to be won with this horse. He is entered in the Coral Challenge at Sandown (12.55pm) and is an 8/1 shot for the mile handicap.

Cosmopolitan Queen is another I'll be keeping an eye on at Sandown (2.45pm), David Elsworth's filly returns to the same course and distance that saw her win on her penultimate outing and if her efforts back over a mile at Newmarket last weekend haven't left their mark, then she can go well back over the specialist trip that seem to suit her so well.

At Haydock I'm looking forward to seeing John Gosden's progressive filly Precious Ramotswein the bet365 Lancashire Oaks. I fancied her on her reappearance when she won a Brighton handicap over 10 furlongs at the beginning of May and she then took the step up to 14 furlongs in her stride to win a Group Three at the end of that month. She has reportedly had niggling problems and as a result is lightly raced for a four-year-old, but hasn't done much wrong and is on the upgrade. She's 5/1 for Saturday's contest with Sky Bet and I won't be deserting her just yet.

There could be another valuable handicap heading back to Roger Charlton's Beckhampton Stables if Atty Persse is fully tuned up for his seasonal reappearance in the bet365 Old Newton Cup at the Lancashire venue. He won the King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot last summer off a mark of 93, but he didn't go on in two starts in Group company after that and has subsequently been gelded over the winter.

He has won after a layoff in the past, but seems short enough at 5/1 to win on his first run since August, but remember what I said at the beginning of the column about value...?