SPARK PLUG CAN SPARKLE FOR MEEHAN
CONNECTIONS of SPARK PLUG (Haydock, 2.30) will be praying the damp weather stays away and he can fire to his full potential in today’s Rose of Lancaster Stakes.
There has been plenty of rain around in the north west this week, but this afternoon’s action is staged on the outer track and the prospect of better ground should suit the selection given the balance of his career has been restricted to fast ground.
However, a couple of the six-yearold’s immediate relatives, Pearl Of Africa and Slight Advantage, both operated well with cut in the ground so Spark Plug’s chance may not be compromised by recent rainfall.
Brian Meehan’s gelding certainly arrives in good heart courtesy of a stout Sandown victory where his turn of foot was perfectly employed by Ryan Moore and, although backto-back wins have never been his trademark, he has strung together a series of consistent efforts since handsomely winning the Cambridgeshire last autumn.
Favourite Laraaib is an intriguing rival as he steps out of handicap company for the first time following a smooth Ascot defeat of Banditry and it’s perhaps worth recalling he hadn’t even seen a racetrack at the start of May.
His rise has been meteoric and his handler clearly feels he should be at home at this level as he is happy to sidestep handicaps and take advantage of the weight-for-age allowance three-year-olds receive, a tactic employed by the last two winners of this race.
Laraaib’s experience of the track, gathered by beating the highly useful Atty Persse here in May, will also stand him in good stead and he is respected along with fellow three-year-old Frankuus, who was no match for Spark Plug at Sandown, but has since chased home the classy Defoe at Hamilton.
The Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup continues to polarise opinion, but it is only one day in a packed racing calendar and offers a unique opportunity to see talent in the saddle from across the world.
Solid bets look a little hard to come by but LEXINGTON ABBEY (Ascot, 1.05) could give the Rest of the World and Silver Saddle hopeful Kerrin McEvoy a flying start in the Dash.
Although Nottingham is the selection’s favoured venue, he has run well here three times, not least last time out in a strong handicap over course and distance won by Danzeno. He was also beaten narrowly in a similar race last summer and should make a big impact.