COMMONWEALTH CUP

Ive spent some time on this race now, more than its worth perhaps given its a G1 Sprint in this part of the world, we all know they tend to be lotteries and they can all beat each other on any given day.

But I think its a good new race for us and could eventually help to solve the above problem by attracting better quality 3yo's to the sprinting game when in previous years they might just have finished up failed milers. Looking at this years race I think its a good turnout. The likes of Anthem Alexander, Adaay, Tendu and maybe even Limato are horses who otherwise might have been trained to try and get the classic mile trip and sprint potential could have been not fully realized or even lost. It will be interesting to see how Muharaar, Home Of The Brace, Kool Kompany and Tiggy Wiggy get on given that they were trained for mile classics this season and are now taking on horses who have been trained and campaigned for this race. I wont be surprised if they struggle but thats just a guess, plenty of horses have failed at a mile and went to be top sprinters, but this is unique right now in terms of the timing and the fact that possibly similar class 3yos have been trained specifically for it. Time will tell what will come of the race but for me its one of the few changes/inventions in my time following racing that I have seen as a positive and I hope it has the potential to improve the quality of our sprint division and breeding which has been lagging behind the rest of the world for as long as I have been watching.

As for this renewal, I was quite keen on Tendu earlier but after looking back at the results of the previous sprints this week, it seems there could be a possible advantage in being drawn low, which would make Acapulcos win look even better. Could be something, could be nothing, but im running with it and as such am against Limato, Tiggy Wiggy and Hootennany. With Home Of The Brave drawn 2 I dont think the low numbers will have to worry about pace either although there seems to be a good spread.

Im going for 2 big outsiders in the shape of Salt Island 50/1 and Goken 40/1.

Salt Island looked a nice horse winning on debut and backed it up when making a mockery of 93 in a handicap at the craven meeting, the 3rd 4rth and 5th have since shown that was no mugs he beat that day. At Newbury next time he ran 3rd after a classic Spencer ride, running on strongly with no chance of getting to Adaay with Moore at his best, but I got the impression he is much closer to the winner in ability than that result suggested. The ground has been given as an excuse for his last run when he travelled well but never picked up in the same manner as at Newbury or Newmarket. Id respect Adaay in this race but at the prices I think Salt Island is worth chancing back on fast ground to show he is better than those last two runs and after only 5 runs he is far from exposed as a sprinter.

Goken was a very decent 2yo in France last year, he won the Prix Du Bois and started 11/10 for the Robert Papin but disappointed in that and in the Morny, interestingly both on ground described as very soft. His best runs seem to have come on good ground and he was only beaten 2 1/2L in the Prix De L'Abbaye on his next start, finishing a 1/2L behind the likes of Catcall, Stepper Point and Sole Power, with Maarek, Pearl Secret and Hot Streak behind, not bad going for a 2yo. He finished his 2yo season with a 3rd behind Mattmu again on very soft going. He started out this season as favourite for a 6f G3 at Chantilly on good to soft, lead most of the way but got caught late by El Valle(runs in this) and Finsbury Square. Last time, back on good ground at 5.5f he turned the tables on Finsbury Square, making all and gamely handing on by a head. Finsbury Square, who Goken had been conceding 5 pounds to, went on to run 4rth, beaten 1 1/2 in the G2 won by Muthmir, with the likes of Medician Man behind him so the form might just be stronger than it looks at first glance. The stiff 6f has to be a worry but I can see him running much better than his price of 40/1(80 on here) suggests and I dont think he should be too far away. His trainer brought another 3yo son of Kendargent over to Ascot for a sprint a couple of years ago and it finished 3rd to Black Caviar at 40/1!