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William Haggas has hit top gear during the height of the Flat season, saddling 11 winners from his first 33 runners in August, and he has a number of lively chances at York’s Ebor meeting next week that may be worth watching out for. The Juddmonte International very much revolves around Postponed on ratings, but it is a tight contest in behind the even-money favourite, and Haggas’ Mutakayyef has earned a crack at a Group 1 race after returning this season in the form of his life. A gelding operation seems to have been the making of Mutakayyef, and his win in the Summer Mile last time was his best performance to date. He is already proven over 10f, and could outrun his odds. Light Music will need to bounce back from a couple of poor runs this season, but did at least have an excuse last time at Newmarket, where she became unbalanced in the Dip. Light Music may well be more at home back on this flatter track, and if belatedly building on her second in a Group 3 at Lingfield earlier in the season, she will be of interest in Thursday’s 7f fillies’ handicap having been eased 2 lb in the weights after Newmarket. Two-year-old Rivet hails from a family that Haggas has had success with (full-brother to Out And About), and may well be seen in the 7f maiden on Friday after a promising second on debut at Ascot last month.
Henry Candy saddled just five winners in the first four months of the 2016 season, and though those did feature Group 1 wins for the likes of Twilight Son (Diamond Jubilee) and Limato (July Cup), the overall form of the yard was certainly down. Remarkably, Candy has now saddled the same amount of winners in the first half of August as he did in those first four months of the season, and it could pay to watch out for some of his runners at York next week. He is of course set to saddle Limato over 5f in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes, and it will be fascinating to see if he is able to apply himself as well as he did last time over 6f in the July Cup. Dinkum Diamond is also tackling a somewhat unknown trip for Candy at York next week as he steps up to a mile in a handicap on Thursday. Dinkum Diamond had mainly been campaigned over sprint trips early on in his career, but his soft-ground win over 7f at Leicester makes him worth a try at a mile, and he has posted some good runs in warm handicaps this season, with a fourth in the Victoria Cup and a seventh in the Bunbury Cup to his name already.
Similarly to Henry Candy, Luca Cumani had a relatively slow start to this season, but has seen his string really spark into life over the last few weeks, saddling five winners from his first 15 runners in August. Cumani has a few entries at York next week worth noting, including the three-year-old filly Tiptree, who seemed suited by the step up to 12f in a listed race at Newmarket last time when running her best race to date. Tiptree is currently entered in the listed Galtres Stakes over 12f next week with Jamie Spencer – who has ridden two of Cumani’s winners in August – booked for the ride. Spencer may also ride four-year-old filly Koora in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks for Cumani. Koora ran a career best on her reappearance this season when second in the Middleton Stakes over 10f at York, and is worth judging more on that than her last start in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh, where she was perhaps unsuited by the tactical nature of the race. A bigger field and an extra two furlongs in the Yorkshire Oaks looks set to suit, and she could get involved if finding some more improvement.
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