Friday October 5, 17:05 Ascot: Ascot Iron Stand Handicap (6 furlongs)
The market leaders
Rohaan
A wide open contest ends the day at Ascot on Friday, with the maximum 18 runners lining up for this six-furlong sprint contest. There are some sprinting stalwarts heading to post, and none more so than the current market leader Rohaan who will be looking to bounce back after a few disappointing efforts recently.
He holds some very decent course and distance form, with a win in the 21-runner field Wokingham at Royal Ascot in 2021, before going on to repeat that effort the following year, beating 26 runners to the winning post.
The David Evans-trained gelding then went on to take his form to a new level, landing the Group 3 Bengough Stakes and coming fourth in the Group 1 Champion Sprint at Ascot, only beaten by three lengths.
He seems to produce his best efforts at this course over six furlongs, and although he has been losing his way slightly, back at this course where he does so well, he could quite easily bounce back off a mark of 102, which is his lowest since 2021.
English Oak
English Oak is a very interesting runner for the Ed Walker team, by far the least experienced runner in the field, with just the four runs to his name so far.
The well-bred son of Wootton Bassett is yet to run over a trip of this nature, coming seventh over seven furlongs on debut at Newbury in May, he then stepped up to the mile where he has been running ever since.
A winner at Thirsk over a mile on good-to-firm ground, he then came third in a decent novice contest before going on to slightly disappoint in the Sky Bet Mile at York when coming eighth of 11 runners.
Ryan Moore reported that he ran far to free that day, so the step down to six furlongs for this keen runner might be a good move by the trainer, but he is up against some very experienced sprinters who could use their experience to good use here. He is an interesting runner going forward however.
King's Lynn
Andrew Balding's Kings Lynn is one of those horses that just seems to turn up at every big handicap sprint of the season, and he always seems to have his fans backing him off the cliff edge.
Clearly a talented animal, with a couple of Listed successes in his early days, he does look to be more of a handicapper these days. His current rating of 102 is probably still a little high for the 6-year-old now, and if he was to drop into the 90's, he could well pick up and win a race of this nature.
He did run well to finish sixth in the Portland Handicap at Doncaster last time, and was running on well at the end, so if they go a breakneck gallop in this, which could well be the case, he could be staying on well.
He has ran in some very tricky contests here, but always seems to run his race, and back here with a quick pace to aim at, he could finally get his head in front in one of these big field races.
Redemption Time
Clive Cox does very well with these types of horses, and he is great at getting them to win big-field races like this. Redemption Time arrives off the rating of 87, which is 5lbs below his highest career rating so far. However he is quite lightly raced and is only a 3-year-old, who has just had the 10 career runs to his name.
His run last time out was probably a career best, coming second behind the well-fancied Dark Trooper and was only beaten by half a length. That was over course and distance in a Class 2 contest, so a very similar race to this, so he does have a good chance to go one better than last time here, as it would be no surprise for this son of Harry Angel to thrive off these conditions and improve past most of these.
Yaaser
Jim Goldie doesn't really send many horses down south with just the six runners at Ascot this season and 30 altogether in the last five seasons.
However, he rarely sends them down for nothing, and Yaaser comes into this carrying bottom weight, after already enjoying a very productive season, running on 13 different occasions with two wins and plenty of placed efforts.
A nice winner at Southwell last time out for the Racing League, and he has been raised 5lbs in the weights since then. He can, however, cause issues when trying to be loaded into the stalls, and was reported to have needed to pass a stalls test before running again, so that might be something to bear in mind for him.
Others to consider
Richard Hannon's Dark Thirty is another nice 3-year-old type who has been running well recently, winning a Class 3 handicap contest at Newmarket before coming thirrd in the City Of Doncaster Handicap last time, hanging left in the closing stages so being quite unlucky on that front. He was once rated 97 so he is now a few pounds below his best, but could well bounce back with conditions to suit here.
Marco Botti's Silver Samurai produced a few goose egg performances earlier on in the season, before really starting to hit a nice bit of form recently. He won a Class 4 15-runner affair at Newmarket, before going on to place in a similar yet higher class field at Sandown, only beaten by just over two lengths. He could still have some improvement in him to land a contest of this nature.
Tanmawwy is a really nice consistent type, and Charlie Hills is becoming quite a master at training these sprinters to flourish with age. An easy winner on seasonal debut at Windsor on good-to-firm ground, he then went out to disappoint slightly in the softer ground, to which his trainer reported that the ground conditions were unsuitable those days, and he would be much more suited to the better ground. He is a highly-rated runner in the field so could prove too good for these on his preferred firmer ground.
Tough Enough is a real fascinating contender, who like most of the 3-year-old's in this contest is pretty lightly raced with just seven runs to his name, but three of those have been winning efforts from the James Tate runner.
A winner as a 2-year-old at Wolverhampton, he then went on to win on his 3-year-old debut, which was a pretty good effort in a Class 3 contest. He has run three times since then, coming sixth in a decent contest before going on to win a Class 4 at Sandown. His performance last time out is a little concerning when finishing last of nine runners in a similar contest to this, but he did run without his hind shoes, so the change could have affected his performance, and he can be expected to bounce back well in this.
John Butler's Kuwait City runs with a very low weight in this, and he did run very well last time out to come runner-up in a class 3, albeit well beaten by five lengths and his form previous to that does leave a few question marks hanging over him. As with any John Butler horse, it's worth keeping an eye on the market with Kuwait City.
It would be unfair to not mention Dusky Lord, who seems to have been running for years, despite only being a 4-year-old. A winner of the Ayr Silver Cup on his last start for Roger Varian, he has since changed hands in the trainers and owners department.
He has disappointed the last few occasions, but he has big-field sprinting experience, and Stuart Williams is excellent at getting horses back to winning ways after losing their way previously. The expected improving ground conditions should suit him on Friday.
Final Verdict
A very tricky and trappy contest, with a real course specialist in Rohaan who is leading the market carrying top weight. It would not surprise me at all to see him back in the winning groove at a course he does so well at.
However, good things can be expetced from another two in this at decent prices:
Firstly, Redemption Time who produced a very decent second last time out in a similar contest. He has operated at a higher mark than this previously, and although he lacks in experience, that could be a good thing meaning he might improve a little past most of these. Clive Cox does very well with these types, and if he wins this he could be a black-type horse in the future.
Rossa Ryan is having an excellent season, and his ride Tough Enough is another one worth considering at a decent price. Three times a winner in his career already, his run last time was disappointing but that was down to equipment issues. He has shown enough to run well in a contest of this nature, and appears to be a better horse than the 91 rating suggests.
Preview provided by @Jake Russell