Requinto great each-way value at around 8-1
Despite the fact that he’s taking a jump from handicap company right up to the top echelon of the sport, that effort dictates that he deserves his place at the front of the market and is the one to beat.
But those of us looking for some value will hang onto the fact that his progress this season has come in six-furlong races and he drops back to the minimum trip for the first time in 2011. He has won over today’s trip four times in the past and it shouldn’t be a huge concern but his rivals will be looking to such minor details to get him beaten.
Bated Breath looked a sprinter to follow when running a huge race to take second place behind Dream Ahead in the July Cup. The fact that he’s been the subject of some negative reports over the past few weeks is of concern, but he has the form at this level and the drying ground should also be in his favour.
He’s never run over the minimum trip but the pace he showed at Newmarket suggests it’s not going to be a problem and, if he is one hundred percent, he won’t be far away.
Kevin Ryan’s Masamah is all speed and he impressed when bolting up in the Audi King George Stakes at Goodwood on his most recent outing. That was his first venture into group company and the run suggests he’s certainly worth his place in this company, but this is more demanding.
Dandy Nicholls relies on Inxile, who has farmed sprint races in Ireland but also looks like he must make a giant leap forward to score at this level. We, in this country, are not renowned for our sprinters and that’s almost certainly a good part of the reason he has flourished here.
In saying that, it should be pointed out that last year’s Nunthorpe yielded a one-two for Irish runners, when 100-1 chance Sole Power came home in front of Aidan O’Brien’s Australian import Starspangledbanner, and we may not be ready to relinquish the trophy today.
Sole Power meanwhile may not defend his crown. Trainer Eddie Lynam fears the ground could be too soft for the four-year-old sprinter and the County Meath handler is likely to make a late call on whether to let his stable star take his chance.
Perhaps the most interesting runner of all is the David Wachman-trained Requinto, who is the sole representative from this season’s juvenile crop. He’s run five times this term and has won three of them. He’s clearly all speed and his only defeats came in his two tries at six furlongs.
Two-year-olds receive a hefty weight allowance from the older horses and this colt could be the type to take advantage. Kingsgate Native, who represents Michael Stoute today but won the race for John Best in 2007, was the most recent juvenile to land the spoils, while filly Lyric Fantasy, dubbed ‘The Pocket Rocket’, won the race for Richard Hannon in 1992.
Requinto hasn’t always enjoyed a lot of luck in his races and, again, he didn’t have the clearest of runs when getting up in plenty of time to win the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood last time out. The indication from that race and from all his other runs to date is that he has the speed to cope here and the colt by Dansili, out of Group 1-winning two-year-old Damson, may be precocious enough to get involved.
Although he has a task on in trying to beat Hoof It and Bated Breath, his odds are sufficient to suggest that he represents great each-way value at around 8-1.
