It was a big field in Kylian's sprint, but Ray Dawson made a pig's ear out of it.
Ray Dawson found trouble after trouble when trying to find a passage on Kylian. At the time of watching it, I was convinced that, with a clear passage, he would have won that race.
Heathcliff 28/1 (0.5pt EW, 4pl) – Newcastle 2.10
At the time of writing, Heathcliff is quite a big price, and I think he deserves to be a lot shorter. Due to the value on offer, I think he has to be a bet in this race.
Heathcliff has always been a very solid handicapper, but hasn't really been tested at Class 1 level. He has had two runs in Listed races, once on turf and the other on the AW. He is much better on the AW, so his runs on the turf can be ignored.
I've said how the sprinting division is one of the divisions where you can rise from a good handicapper and progress into a Class 1 horse. Heavenly Heather is the prime example of that. She was 70 rated last year, and has since recorded a 116 RPR and finished sixth in a Group 1 at Royal Ascot when being 92 rated.
Heathcliff is seen best when capitalising on a strong pace over seven furlongs. This drop shouldn't be a problem, as he has shown he is capable of running nice races over this far, and I think the likely fast pace could see him finishing with a flurry. Thankfully, he likes to sit towards the front, which should allow him to have the chance to run on and not have to bridge too much ground.
Charging Thunder 22/1 (0.5pt EW, 5pl) – Newcastle 2.40
Picking the exposed eight-year-old, Charging Thunder, in a race like this is going against the grain. The in-form, younger horses towards the head of the market are definitely more appealing, but I like that James Owens has opted for Mason Paetel to ride Charging Thunder.
Mason has already proven that he is one of the best, claiming 5lbs in the country, so getting him in the saddle and putting Charging Thunder down to a mark of 83 is very tempting.
My fancy hasn't been out of form; he has run some good races, but the handicapper has given him a chance. He raced in the Northumberland Plate in 2025, the better version of this race. He ran in that off a mark of 91, and finished third. That day, he ran to an RPR of 98. I'm not saying that if he can run a similar level today, he'll win (even though he would), but running off a much lower weight gives him a solid chance.
GambleAware