Nick Luck’s William Hill blog: Kind Of Blue Miles too big a price

William Hill ambassador Nick Luck previews Saturday’s ITV Racing action from Newbury and Market Rasen.

Newbury, Saturday

PHANTOM FLIGHT is a sporting play in the TV opener at Newbury Saturday (1.50), William Hill’s Top Price Guarantee race on the day. A pretty smart performer for James Horton, he just gave the impression he was holding a bit back in his last few starts. Notwithstanding that, he managed to run Al Aasy to a length in this last year when ridden handily. There is a notable absence of pace here, and he could go forward without nearly as much pressure. Hooded for his new stable under a patient rider, he will hopefully expend his energy more evenly. He’s an interesting horse moving forward whatever happens.

NAQEEB might be the way forward in the staying handicap (2.25). Superbly bred, he’s just threatening to be a disappointment, but all is not lost. Two starts back, when tailing off in the Yorkshire Cup, he ran without a tongue tie, while he pretty much finished on the bridle at Ascot after a disastrous passage up the inside. He now has the tongue tie back on, and the cheekpieces off, plus a drop in grade and step up in trip. On his Haydock and Ascot efforts last back end, he could potentially pick this lot up and carry them if everything drops right.

KIND OF BLUE looks an interesting each way proposition in a seriously strong edition of the Hackwood Stakes (3.00). Frankly it’s hard to see why half of these weren’t running in the July Cup, but Newmarket’s loss is most certainly Newbury’s gain. Regional looks a very decent favourite, with the three year olds Elite Status and Lake Forest appearing to have trained on well. That said, the selection moved through the Commonwealth Cup like a better horse than Lake Forest, only giving best in the stiff finish. This less demanding track should suit well and, considering his relative inexperience, there’s no way he should be four times the price of his Ascot conqueror.

TIME FOR SANDALS looks to have quite strong claims in the Super Sprint (3.35). I don’t think much of the Windsor Castle form represented by many of these including Vingegaard, while It Ain’t Two is admirable and a worthy favourite, but has her limitations. The selection looks a genuine prospect on her Kempton success, and comes from a good stable who had an excellent third in a stronger edition of this last year with a similarly inexperienced horse.

Market Rasen, Saturday

BREAKING WAVES has been priced up at Market Rasen as though his win at Uttoxeter was a fluke (2.05), but it definitely was not, and – while you need some faith to say he’ll repeat it – he’s very big odds not to, particularly given his old form fully entitled that kind of performance plus the undoubtedly positive influence of Kielan Woods. I like that he’s plenty of form round here in the book as well.

CHAOS CONTROL can continue the extraordinary record of Stuart Edmunds (2.40). This calendar year has seen the Newport Pagnell maestro knock in 26 winners from 91 runners, plus black type success in Ireland. The selection was another to up his game last time, winning here in a fair time. He’ll need to do so again, but a drop back in distance and more patient tactics definitely paid dividends, and he’ll get a nice pace set-up here. The fact he was contesting Grade One races as a juvenile tells you this level shouldn’t be beyond him.

SOUL ICON can continue a fine run of form in the Summer Plate (3.15). He’s one of the more consistent and likeable chasers in training and is quite classy for a mainly summer jumper. A fine run on softish ground at Ayr was followed up with an excellent effort at Aintree. I don’t think he’ll mind coming back right handed, and a slight step up in trip might enable him to establish a pretty comfortable rhythm near the front.