Havana Beat

5th-Jul-2014

I am backing Havana Beat here. He makes a fair bit of appeal at 7/1 or 8/1 in a race in which there are question marks about several of his rivals on fast ground.

Andrew Balding’s gelding has kept high company for over a year now. Seven of his last eight runs have been at Group level and, although he often acquits himself fairly well, it is clear that he is not quite up to that level. Today’s contest, a fairly weak listed race, should suit him much better.

He has generally been running over a mile and half or slightly further, but he was stepped right up in trip for the Ascot Gold Cup last time and he could well now find his niche as a stayer. He stuck on and seemed to get home quite well in the Gold Cup and, although this is a drop back in trip by half a mile, it will certainly suit him better than the mile and a half over which he competed on his first couple of runs of the season.

By Teofilo, the fast ground should suit him well and this really is not the strongest of listed races. Repeater is a danger if he puts it all together, he is one of the few who will love the fast ground, and the booking of Ryan Moore for him is a massive positive, given his quirks. But he is surely at his best in a big field handicap in which he can pass rivals and drop his nose in front on the line. This small field may not suit him, for all that he will probably travel well through the race.

HAVANA BEAT WON (ADV 7/1 [R4], SP 11/4)

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