Desert Sea out of Borough Cup

David Arbuthnot will rely solely on Tropical Strait in Saturday’s valuable betfred.com Old Borough Cup Stakes at Haydock after ruling Desert Sea out of the race.

The Berkshire handler had no hesitation in halving his chance in the race as Desert Sea would not act on the expected soft ground.

“He must have good ground to be seen at his best,” said Arbuthnot.

“He’s only had it once this season and that was when he won easily at Sandown but there is no point running him on soft.”

Tropical Strait will take his chance on the back of a solid run behind Godolphin’s All The Good in the rearranged Ebor, the Newburgh Handicap, at Newbury.

“It’s quite frustrating that he has been put up in the handicap for getting beaten but that’s typical of the handicapper I’m afraid,” said Arbuthnot.

“There’s not much you can do about it though. I still think he has a fighting chance. He won’t mind the ground, he seems to have come out of the race terribly well, despite having two races in a week and he seems to be thriving on it.

“All I hope is that the handicapper is right and he is still improving.

“He’s very lightly-raced and there is no mileage on the clock so hopefully he will keep going.

“I’ll have to have a look and see if he jumps a hurdle after this, I haven’t schooled him yet but he could be fairly useful. The November Handicap is a possible target for him at the end of the season.”