Natural sprinter Chinta the value in Temple
He ran really well in defeat on both outings at Meydan this season, confirming himself as good as ever.
He has conditions to suit and, while he’s officially inferior to one of his opponents, Bated Breath, he has a fitness edge that should ensure he makes it into the frame, at least.
There’s also the fact that Bated Breath has never won over this trip, though he has top-class sprinting form at this track. Roger Charlton’s horse ran a super race when beaten just a nose by Dream Ahead in the Group 1 Sprint Cup here back in September.
Tangerine Trees has improved since finishing tenth of 12, beaten less than five lengths, in this race last year but he has to shoulder a Group 1 penalty, having won the Prix de l’Abbaye in October.
But perhaps the most interesting runners in the field are the two three-year-olds, Bapak Chinta and Best Terms.
The latter was a very speedy juvenile, winning the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot. She ran okay at Lingfield last and will surely be better for the drop back in trip. She receives a handy allowance from her male rivals and it’d be no surprise to see her outrun her odds.
But Bapak Chinta is the one to make most appeal. Keving Ryan’s colt made a very impressive start to his career by beating subsequent Windsor Castle (5f, Listed) and July Stakes (6f, Group 2) winner Frederick Engels readily, despite having to concede three pounds to his fellow debutant.
He followed up with victory over Boomerang Bob in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot, and the runner-up did the form no harm when second to subsequent Prix Morny runner-up Family One at Chantilly, and when filling the same spot behind Caspar Netscher in the Greenham in April.
Bapak Chinta failed to run his race in the Middle Park at Newmarket back in October and has been off the track since but if he’s fit and ready for today’s race, he could make them all go.
He looked all speed in those juvenile victories and if he has developed since, who knows how far he could go in this discipline?
Money is likely to reveal the expectation behind him, and if it were to speak in his favour, it would be highly significant. Stable companion Masamah is another worth consideration, but, at 12-1, Bapak Chinta strikes as the best each-way option.
