Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Winter looks a winner
WINTER Power is expected to make a successful reappearance in the Temple Stakes at Haydock this afternoon.
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 effort to date when claiming Group One glory in the Nunthorpe, but 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.
It will be fascinating to see if El Caballo can transfer his high-class all-weather form to the turf for the Sandy Lane Stakes.
Karl Burke’s charge is five from five since filling the runner-up spot behind the talented Armor on his Doncaster debut in April of last year, with his last four wins coming on an artificial surface.
He landed the Listed Spring Cup at Lingfield with something to spare on his penultimate start before taking some of the huge prize-money on offer on All-Weather Championships Finals Day at Lingfield.
The form of that triumph looks strong after the narrowly beaten runner-up Tiber Flow went one better in a Listed contest at Newbury last Saturday, so El Caballo is entitled to have a crack at this Group Two prize.
Brentford Hope could be the value call in the William Hill Festival Stakes at Goodwood.
The Camelot gelding produced one of the most visually impressive debut performances of recent times when bolting up on his Newmarket debut a few years ago.
It could be argued that he has not quite scaled the heights some expected since, but he has won a couple of handicaps and rounded off 2021 by finishing third in two Group races on the continent.
His most recent effort behind Skalleti in Italy was arguably a career-best at the distance.