We’re one week away from Epsom Derby Day, but before then, we have the Haydock John Of Gaunt Stakes to look forward to.
It’s not a vintage weekend, but there is plenty of racing to look at, and I have three fancies to consider.
Let’s roll on.
Haydock John Of Gaunt Stakes Day
2:23 Haydock – Jasour @ 10/3 with William Hill – 1pt Win
The Listed Achilles Stakes is a nice open race, but I think the market has this correct. No Half Measures and Jasour are the top two in the betting, but it is the latter that I prefer.
While I appreciate that the likes of Shagraan and Seven Questions could step up, Jasour is the one with solid Group 1 form in the book having finished third in the Commonwealth Cup and sixth in the July Cup last season.
He also won the Commonwealth Cup Trial on his first start of the season, which is a good omen ahead of this seasonal reappearance.
That Commonwealth Cup form with Inisherin, Lake Forest, and Kind Of Blue is strong in this field, and his win at Ascot in May on good to soft ground suggests he can handle any juice in Haydock’s surface this weekend.
He’s a good animal, and I think he has the ability to win this race.
2:58 Haydock – Shaha @ 9/4 with William Hill – 1pt Win
I’m happy to take on Estrange in the Group 3 Lester Piggott Fillies’ Stakes, and the one I’m going to do it with is Shaha.
His opening win of the season at Goodwood can be upgraded as it was his first run of the year, and Scenic finishing second sets a good standard.
Furthermore, the daughter of Cracksman was a good second at Ascot on debut in May 2024, and the winner that day was Diamond Rain. She’s gone on to beat Running Lion in the Listed Hedge Of Oak Stakes recently, so that form has worked out.
Out of the Group 1-placed Board Meeting, she is from the family of the two-time Group 1 winner Bright Sky. This quick look at her pedigree is very promising.
This isn’t a vintage renewal of the Group 3 Lester Piggott Fillies’ Stakes, and Shaha is the one I’m with.
3:15 York – Term Of Endearment @ 3/1 with William Hill – 1pt Win
She may be trained and ridden by someone different, and the silks she’ll be sporting have also changed, but I think Term Of Endearment can land the Group 3 Bronte Cup Fillies’ Stakes.
The six-year-old by Sea The Moon won last year’s renewal for Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore, but since then, she’s won a Group 2 and been sold to Zhang Yuesheng for 1,300,000gns.
Connections clearly have breeding aspirations for the future with her, but I think it’s telling that she is sticking around for another season. Do they think she is good enough to get Group 1 black type? Potentially.
Her form suggests that this is not an outlandish claim either, as she beat Night Sparkle twice before she went on to finish fourth in the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup and second in the Group 2 Park Hill Fillies’ Stakes.
Caius Chorister, fourth in the Group 2 Long Distance Cup on Champions Day, was also three lengths behind Term Of Endearment in the Group 2 Lillie Langtry Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.
I am slightly worried that this is her first start in the UK of 2025, though I’m hopeful that she should be fit enough having run in the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup 56 days ago.
If she is, the recent rain we’ve had will help take the sting out of the ground for her, and she can become the first two-time winner of the Group 2 Bronte Cup Fillies’ Stakes.
