Monday 29 August 2016 19:44, UK
It is overly simplistic to point out that 14/1 chance Suedois finished in front of 9/2 Sprint Cup favourite Quiet Reflection in the July Cup at Newmarket but the point is not without merit.
Karl Burke's filly announced her presence on the sprinting scene with a very impressive display over Saturday's course and distance in the Sandy Lane Stakes and followed that up in the Commonwealth Cup at Ascot before her Newmarket third.
She has had just eight career starts, winning six of them, and may well have more to offer but conditions at Newmarket were the quickest that she had encountered and they could again be fast at Haydock.
The ground has seen a possible change in plan from Henry Candy who could reroute his July Cup winner Limato to Merseyside where he would replace stablemate and last year's winner Twilight Son who needs some cut and whose participation was described as '50-50'.
Limato has finished second in the Nunthorpe since Newmarket and will benefit from stepping back up to six furlongs; he would clearly be a big player if taking his chance although Candy did point out that he had never run the four-year-old back so quickly before.
Whether he can cope with that or not remains to be seen but this has been a relatively poor race for those at the head of the market with five of the last seven winners returned at double figure prices.
One of those was G Force, trained then by Suedois' handler David O'Meara. They are different types but Sudeois has been knocking on the door all season and clearly doesn't have very much to find.
The final few yards of the Prix Maurice de Gheest appeared to find him out last time where he finished fourth, a neck behind Jimmy Two Times - who had run Quiet Reflection to a head earlier in the season - although O'Meara felt his French import wasn't ideally drawn.
Prior to the July Cup - where he was two lengths adrift of Limato - he was beaten under a length in the Diamond Jubilee in a bunch finish involving Twilight Son and Magical Memory (who he had earlier run to half a length at York) with the disappointing The Tin Man behind.
There are no suggestions that he has been unlucky and he is arguably open to less improvement than some of his younger and less experienced counterparts. However, he has only had five starts for his current handler who may be able to eke a few more pounds out of him while one look back at this race's recent history should serve as a quick reminder not to dismiss him too quickly.
Regal Parade, Markab and, to some extent, Gordon Lord Byron had all been around the bloke a couple of times before making the breakthrough at the top level in this race and Suedois clearly doesn't have a great deal to find.
There can only be minor quibbles with the top two in the market but Magical Memory flopped last time, Dancing Star is stepping out of handicap company and The Tin Man's style of racing ensures that he needs luck in running.
They are all considerably shorter than Suedois who has been aimed at the race since France and he's well worth an each-way interest.
