CHARLIE LOOKS A BONNIE BET AT HAMILTON:
The big race of the evening at Hamilton is the John Smiths Scottish Stewards Cup at 7.45pm. A field of 15 are set to go to post for this valuable sprint over six furlongs and the one that stands out most is the William Haggas trained Bonnie Charlie. The four-year-old Intikhab colt certainly has the potential to land a race of this nature, having shown progressive form in his two starts this season. He made an encouraging reappearance in the Group Three Palace House Stakes at Newmarket, where having been taken off his feet in the early stages, he stayed on really well at the finish, coming home in eighth place behind Equiano. He remained in Group Company for his final outing where he turned in a very respectable effort to finish third to Barney Mcgrew in the Chipchase Stakes at Newcastle.
Although this is a very tough handicap, he will surely find it an easier assignment than his most recent tasks. The stable are currently in excellent form, having notched four winners from their last 17 runners and have a track record second to none, with six wins from 12 runners. Latest news from the gallops also suggest he is in top form with some impressive workouts in the build up to this race, and given a little luck in running, he looks certain to play a part in the finish.
The likely favourite for this is the locally trained Hawkeyethenoo and he would certainly be a popular winner if he were to keep the prize north of the border. Jim Goldie’s charge certainly has strong credentials too, having put in splendid efforts on all his four starts this year. In fact, he could hardly have been more impressive in his first two outings, winning a good handicap at Thirsk and then following up in a top class handicap at Newmarket. Badly hampered on several occasions, that victory was even more notable in the way he managed to quicken up and beat Enact by just over a length.
He would surely have recorded a hat trick of wins in the Investec Dash at Epsom but for being slowly away from the gate. He was making ground hand over fist in the closing stages and with a few more strides, would surely have caught the eventual winner Bertoliver. His best performance was arguably last time out in defeat, when finishing third to Invincible Ash in the National Lottery Sweepstakes at The Curragh. In hindsight, he was clearly at a disadvantage, drawn on the wrong side of the course and in the circumstances, did well to finish so close. He too should find this level less taxing and looks sure to run well.
One trainer to keep an eye on here is Richard Fahey, reason being he has won the last two runnings of this race. This year he saddles two runners, Irish Heartbeat and Baldemar. The one to focus on is probably Irish Heartbeat as not only does he boast the best form of the pair, but is also the chosen mount of stable jockey Paul Hanagan. He began the current campaign in great style, winning the Spring Mile at Doncaster and on the back of that performance, was a heavily backed favourite for the Spring Cup at Newbury. However, things just did not go to plan that day, as he had absolutely no luck in running.
Possibly the most interesting aspect here is the drop back in distance. Both his two runs this year have been over a mile and therefore to many, it would seem an unusual move to step down to six furlongs for this. Nevertheless, further investigation shows that the stable deployed the exact same tactic last season, which brought about a significant improvement in form. He will certainly need to repeat the trick here as this is very competitive, but he is not one to rule out lightly.
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