Last year's race

• Winner: Alzahir
• Jockey: Darragh Keenan
• Trainer: Jennie Candlish
• Owner: James Paul Services To Industry Ltd
• Age: 5 Weight: 9st 12lbs
• Starting Price: 20/1
• Season Form Figures: 114575411
• Previous Best: 1st - Class 3 Handicap, Epsom (July 2025)

By Paul Jones

The big betting handicap on the card takes place over 5f but, unlike at Royal Ascot, this race on the Straight Course is restricted to 20 runners.

This is only the fourteenth running so trends are rather thin on the ground but the market has been a decent indicator so far with four winning or co-favourites and just three winners sent off at bigger than 11/1. In fact, after Fair Wind’s victory in 2024, as many as seven of the last 11 winners were sent off in the front two in the market which is very good going for a big-field sprint handicap.

Four of the last nine winners ran at Royal Ascot, three of which in the Wokingham and the 2021 winner had won the Palace of Holyrood Stakes just over three weeks earlier.

This handicap has witnessed a notable upturn in the fortunes of the classier sprinters of late with Danzeno, Spring Loaded, Tis Marvellous and Mountain Peak overcoming big weights (9st 10lb, 9st 7lb, 9st 8lb and 9st 10lb) and ratings of 100+ in the process in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022 respectively and then Alzahir won off top weight of 9st 12lb last year at 20/1.

Tis Marvellous was one of five 100+ rated runners when he was successful and they finished 1-3-4-5-8 in a 20-runner handicap. It was a similar outcome in 2017 when 100+ rated horses finished 1-2-3-5 from their eight runners and last year witnessed the top two in the weights finish third and first so maybe consider perming the top weights in exactas and trifectas if we get sufficient qualifiers?

There are no notable age trends. Significantly was the first successful three-year-old in 2021 but only six had taken part in the previous nine runnings. The surprise 22/1 winner the following season was of just two three-year-olds in the line-up. A trio of three-year-olds were entered earlier this week; Behike, Havana Hurricane and Schrodinger’s Cat who are all to the fore in the ante-post market.

Eight of the last ten winners have been drawn 12+ towards the stands’ side, a theme replicated in the straight-course handicaps at the Royal Meeting last month.

Apprentices taking off 5lb have won two of the 13 runnings and the only filly in the 2023 renewal, The Big Board, went on to win here following up her success for Richard Hannon in a fillies’ handicap at Doncaster.