Haggas targeting fifth Edinburgh Cup victory with Nathanael Greene

Trainer William Haggas bids for a record fifth success in the £50,000 Edinburgh Cup with Nathanael Greene at Musselburgh’s Edinburgh Gin Race Day today.

The Newmarket raider, who will be making his handicap debut in the 1m 4f feature race (4.13pm), is the mount of Cieren Fallon. Considered as a prep race for Royal Ascot, Haggas is looking to repeat last year’s success when Dhushan was victorious.

Fellow HQ trainer George Boughey, the recent winning handler of the 1,000 Guineas with Cachet, will be represented by Charles St, who will be just his second runner at Musselburgh.

Top-weight, racing off a BHA mark of 85, is State Legend for the combination of James Ferguson and Paul Hanagan, while Mark and Charlie Johnston are triplehanded with Trojan Horse, Pons Aelius and Campese.

The only Scottish runner is Belle Of Annandale, a filly trained by Keith Dalgleish, who won the 2015 renewal with Tommy Docc.

In the £25,000 Edinburgh Castle Stakes (3.03pm), recent Salisbury scorer Remarkable Force, a £140,000 breeze-up purchase, is the first course runner for bang-in-form Newmarket-based Alice Haynes. Jungle Time, an impressive course and distance winner for Karl Burke in April, has since not been beaten far in a Listed contest at York.

Musselburgh Racecourse general manager, Bill Farnsworth, said: “We are all ready for an exciting day of racing and with the weather improving this last week the scene is set for another memorable afternoon at Musselburgh.”

Meanwhile, Winter Power is expected to make a successful reappearance in the Cazoo Temple Stakes at Haydock.

Tim Easterby's flying filly won three times from six starts last term, with each of those victories coming on a sound surface at York. She was hugely impressive on her first start of 2021 in the Westow Stakes, proving she is capable of winning first time out, before going on to bag another Listed success in the City Walls Stakes.

Winter Power produced what was comfortably a career-best performance to date when claiming Group One glory in the Nunthorpe and on the face of it her two subsequent efforts were a little disappointing.

But perhaps the stiff nature of the Curragh in the Flying Five found her out and she is readily forgiven a below-par run in a Prix de l'abbaye run in bottomless ground.

A flat five furlongs on Merseyside should be right up her street and with the Easterby string in good form, she should prove hard to beat.