It was always a gamble to go for Only Spoofing in the big field sprint at Musselburgh, but his course record was very attractive, and thankfully, it paid off.
Shane Gray broke reasonably well from a high draw but had to sit with a lot of horse underneath him whilst the gaps opened. The gaps didn't open at the best of times, but he managed to squeeze through late on and win on the line.
Rizzel's tips
Arizona Blaze – Chantilly 3.15
I'm sorry that this is going much sooner than normal, but I think if I wait around, the price will collapse on Arizona Blaze, who is surely the one to beat in this Group 3 in France.
It is a tad risky going for a horse of this age (three years old) at this part of the flat season when we've not seen a lot of the field in a long time. This is because horses at a young age can mature very quickly, so the juveniles we've not seen might have physically filled out and could be much better this season, but based on how last year went Arizona Blaze is the one they all have to beat.
Last year, Adrian Murray's Sergei Prokofiev colt proved to top class from an early stage. He was a winner on debut, finished third at Royal Ascot and then finished second at Del Mar in the Juvenile sprint at the Breeders' Cup meeting. He produced an RPR of 111 for his final run of last season but has since returned as a better horse as he racked up a convincing win at Dundalk, recording a career-best RPR of 116 in the process.
Last time out, he ran well to finish 3rd at Leopardstown to Henri Matisse, but that isn't a true showing of his ability as that was over 7f, which isn't his ideal trip. I can see why they tried that trip, as it would've been an indicator of whether to go for the 2000 Guineas, but he got tired late on in that race, losing two places, so the drop back to sprinting is definitely the right call.
Based on what we know about this field from last years runs, this field should struggle to land a blow on Arizona Blaze if he can get a clear run through, so 15/8 is very good odds in my opinion.
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