2023 Champions Sprint Stakes Ante-Post Tip – DS
2023 Champions Sprint Stakes Ante-Post Tip
The Doncaster St Leger Festival proved to be tough going for us. We were due a bad spell after a good run over the last couple of months, hopefully we’ll get back on track next weekend for the Ayr Gold Cup. However, today we are going to look ahead to Ascot in October. Dave Stevos has an each way 2023 Champions Sprint Stakes Ante-Post fancy, see what 33/1 poke he is backing below.
2023 Champions Sprint Stakes
There’s no prizes for guessing who we are going to back here. Although he let us down last time at Haydock, I have no doubt that Run To Freedom is capable of bouncing back from that poor effort. In hindsight, I don’t think Henry Candy’s sprinter was 100% for that run and his trainer was likely using it as a stepping stone towards this contest.
In his pre-race comments, Candy warned that he was worried about the quick ground at Haydock. The fact that he was sent off at 18/1 despite having finished an excellent 2nd behind Shaquille on his previous outing when we backed him at Newmarket (6f gd/sft) suggests that connections weren’t expecting him to feature and he ran accordingly.
Mixed Market Signals
That being said, the market isn’t usually a good indicator of how this horse is expected to run. He drifted to 150/1 when we were on him for this race last year and he returned at 28/1 when finishing second in the July Cup (we were on ante-post at 33s NAP).
I have no doubt that this horse has been trained for this. Ever since his superb effort here last season, Candy has surely had this race as the number one target for his son of Muhaarar. The key will be the ground. His two Ascot starts on good to soft were superb efforts but he hasn’t looked as effective at the top table on rattling quick ground.
Yes, his last couple of wins at lower levels have come on good to firm and that is why I stuck with him at Haydock. However, his G1 form figures on good or quicker read 9th/11th whereas on good to soft they read 2nd/2nd.
Obviously, it is too far out to predict the weather for Champions Day but given the time of year, there will surely be a cut in the ground. Really testing conditions would be an unknown but if it comes up good to soft, Run To Freedom is more than capable of winning. At odds of 33/1, he is the e/w selection.
