Nick Luck’s blog: I’ve got a Fancy in the Old Newton Cup.

It’s the Eclipse meeting and while that will steal the headlines the undercard from Sandown and Haydock is not to be sniffed at. 

Read on for Nick’s thoughts on eight races this Saturday.

Sandown 

ARECIBO is worth another chance at 8/1 in the Charge (1.50pm) which opens up Sandown’s ITV Eclipse coverage. He ran a mighty race in this last year, which was unsurprising as this stiff five furlongs is right up his street given his style of running. He ran a good bit better than the bare result in the King’s Stand, travelling smoothly but trapped away from where the action was unfolding. If he can jump from the gates a bit more smartly, he’ll be a danger to all.

CHECKANDCHALLENGE can take advantage of a smart piece of placing at 5/1 in the next (2.25pm). His seasonal debut this year was superb and, while he fell short of expectations in the Guineas, he still ran okay up to a point despite clearly not handling the track. He is the only genuinely unexposed horse in the race and – with the benefit of weight for age – can outclass these.

OSCULA can win at 11/2 in the Distaff (3.00pm). She’s badly off at the weights with her small penalty, but the tactical shape of this race makes her quite interesting at the prices, as she might well enjoy the run of the race as a natural pacesetter from stall one. Admittedly, Fast Attack can go forward, but whether she can afford to be aggressively ridden at this trip remains to be seen. The selection is tough, in form, will like the track, and gets William Buick.

ALENQUER can cause a small upset at 15/2 in the Coral-Eclipse (3.35pm). This season has told us that he’s a much quicker horse than we gave him credit for last year, thumping Lord North in a really good time at Lingfield and winning his Group One at the Curragh. He’s a straightforward horse, showed a liking for this track when defeating Adayar in the Classic Trial last season, and may well enjoy a fairly soft time of it on the lead here – he’ll be a tough horse for the three-year-olds to blow by if he’s on his game, and a bigger danger is probably Bay Bridge, but he is half the odds.

Haydock 

DOUBLE CHERRY is the pick at 11/2 in the first of three televised races from Haydock (2.05pm). This is a pretty competitive contest, but the selection could hardly have made a bigger impression when getting soft ground for the first time at Goodwood on his handicap debut, and the rise in the weights may well be offset by a further rise in trip: his best sibling was very effective at this distance.

STAY ALERT is a very good filly and she can prove it at 15/2 in the Lancashire Oaks (2.40pm). She closed Nashwa down all the way to the line on her penultimate start and trounced a pretty good one in Golden Lyra next time. The extra two furlongs is just what she wants, conditions are in her favour and she looks overpriced by some way.

FANCY MAN is an each way play at 20/1 in the Old Newton Cup (3.15pm). This is a really smart horse on his day, he loves Haydock with a bit of cut in the ground, has often run well fresh and goes in a handicap for the first time in his career off a perfectly reasonable mark. The market looks to have underestimated his chances quite considerably.