Time to step up to the mark !

Well the sprints today give some horses a chance to prove their worth in my view as some of the contests are weakend by the Arc meeting.

Firstly Genki can show that his 4th place in the Haydock Sprint Cup was no flash of form by winning the Bengough Stakes at Ascot over 6f as all of his 8 wins have come over the distance. The going should be just about right and he has run some fine races ar Ascot in the past and was second in this race last year beaten 3/4 of a length to Bewitched being run down close home. Last time was as good a performance as he had run in his entire career and who knows he may still be improving at age 7. Elzaam and War Artist will push him close and Desert Poppy could be the surprise package at 12/1.

In the following 7f handicap Pastoral Player has really got his act together this year stalls wise and in some of the races he has been the best horse in the race but he has been let down by starting slowly and by his jockey getting him going too late. Darryll Holland gets the chance to try again following his fast finishing run in the Ayr Gold Cup and although he's a horse that falls in the middle of 6f and 7f being his distance Ascot suits. He also finished to some effect in both the the Wokingham when 3rd to Deacon Blues and the Stewards Cup when 6th to Hoof It and he deserves to win one of these big handicaps and this could be his day running off a slightly lower mark. An interesting jockey booking is Fran Berry on Below Zero who has won twice on him in Ireland. The pair finished last in the Ayr Gold Cup but his jockey hasnt been put off by that and he comes over again for another go and there could be worse 50/1 shots.

Over at Newmarket Anne of Kiev gets her ground and she should run a good race in the Listed race for fillies.

Best of luck everyone !