Twelve months on – can Kachy hang on to beat Battaash in the Temple Stakes?

You have to go back four years to uncover the last instance of Kachy winning in Group company, when landing the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood as a two-year-old.

Unconventional race tactics were in operation that day, with Richard Kingscote opting to dwell towards the rear of the field, before running on well late on to land the spoils by three parts of a length.

Kachy has since become much more synonymous with blistering starts and attempting to make every yard from the starting gates.

This running style hasn’t proved especially successful when competing at Graded level, as is showcased by 11 successive defeats in such company.

The closest he’s come to victory in this period was when finishing third in the Temple Stakes last May, when collared late on by Battaash and going down by a neck.

Both return for another Haydock reunion this year, with Battaash the 6/5 favourite in the Temple Stakes betting to repeat his triumph of 12 months ago, with Kachy 7/2 to not only gain revenge, but end his lengthy wait for a Group-level victory.

So how does Kachy reverse the Temple Stakes form?

Last year, Kachy broke smartly from stall three in an 11-runner field. However, the majority of the field failed to follow him towards the rail and instead drifted across to the other side of the track.

This meant Kachy pretty much ran the entire race in isolation.

With only six runners lining up this time, it’s unlikely that the field will spread across the course in similar fashion. Technically, this should help him maintain better control of the race.

If the field do run as one, Tom Dascombe’s six-year-old can control the tempo, wind things up at his own pace and even potentially box horses in who are waiting in behind for a run.

Furthermore, Kachy had a wind operation over the winter and since returning to the racecourse, he’s racked up a hat-trick on the all-weather. Although these victories were at a lower standard than Group 2 company, they do suggest that his form and fitness are good.

Meanwhile, Battaash has been off the track for over 200 days and even slightly underwhelmed towards the business end of last season, when fourth in consecutive Group 1 outings.

He too has had a wind operation, but there’s no evidence to date that this has had a positive impact.

Battaash is the best horse by 8lb in the Temple Stakes line-up and has won on his seasonal reappearance in each of the last two years. He’s also 3lb better off with Kachy compared to their last Temple Stakes duel.

Yet, with Kachy proving himself following his op to the point that he’s now running off a career-high official rating, he is backed to reverse last year’s Temple Stakes form.