Grocer Jack looks the class act on the Windsor card, having bolted up in a Listed race two starts ago for the William Haggas team; Tom Marquand rides that as well as Maksud in the Listed August Stakes; watch every race on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Racing
Friday 26 August 2022 14:46, UK
Sky Sports Racing's Alex Hammond is back with her weekly blog, taking a look at Windsor's lucrative Winter Hill card as well as all the action from Goodwood.
It's been another enjoyable summer at Windsor, with its laid-back atmosphere and a friendly crowd - this meeting two years ago saw Hollie Doyle make history as the first female jockey to ride five winners on a card.
This time around it could be her husband, Tom Marquand, who steals the headlines, as he has rides in seven of the eight races.
One of his best rides comes in the feature race, the Group Three Sytner Sunningdale & Maidenhead BMW Winter Hill Stakes.
He gets the leg up on Grocer Jack for William Haggas, whose horses continue to operate at an impressive strike rate. Grocer Jack may only have won three races in his career to date, but he only joined Haggas in January and has already won a Listed race for the yard.
The trip of a mile and a quarter is spot on and if Tom Marquand can do a Pat Eddery, who famously used to dictate races from the front at Windsor and hook everything up at halfway to suit himself and inconvenience everyone else, then that will help.
There is a fair bit of pace in the race so that may not be as straightforward as it seems, but Grocer Jack is a free going, galloping type and hopefully he won't face too much competition for the lead.
He also looks to have strong claims in the Listed Royal Windsor August Stakes where he gets back on-board Maksud for trainer Hughie Morrison.
Marquand rode this son of Golden Horn on his racecourse debut here at Windsor back in April and he sprung a spring surprise by winning nicely over a mile and a quarter that day, and he's done little wrong since, although he hasn't won in three subsequent starts.
I was impressed with his latest effort when second at Glorious Goodwood to Charlie Appleby's Secret State, who has gone on to finish second in the Great Voltigeur at York and is still in the St. Leger.
The heavy rain that battered some of the south later this week must have hit Windsor as the ground is on the soft side, and that should be music to the ears of Maksud's connections.
Elsewhere on Saturday, there is a classy card at Goodwood where the William Hill Celebration Mile is the feature race.
Mutasaabeq is going to be a short-priced favourite to win the Group Two for Charlie Hills and Jim Crowley - this horse has always had the weight of expectation to carry on his shoulders with a wonderful pedigree and being a "talking horse" last spring.
Trainer Charlie Hills understandably ran him in the 2000 Guineas after an impressive victory on his reappearance last year, but that was too much too soon for this highly strung colt.
This season, with another winter on his back, he is thriving, and he comes into this contest having just been chinned by Chindit in the Summer Mile at Ascot.
This looks a good opportunity to add a group race to his CV and we may only just be seeing the best of him as he mentally matures as a four-year-old. He's even money favourite with Sky Bet to achieve that.
