2025 Curragh & Haydock Saturday Preview – DS
2025 Curragh & Haydock Saturday Preview
It was a case of close, but no cigar for us on the final day of Glorious Goodwood. Commanche Falls missed out on the place by the width of a cigarette paper. Our NAP, Columnist, didn’t get the clearest of runs and missed a place by a length. Onwards and hopefully upwards we go, Dave Stevos’ 2025 Curragh & Haydock Saturday tips are below.
2.25 Haydock – Dick Hern Stakes (Listed)
A couple of weeks ago I put Vicario up for a listed contest at York. I was hoping she might stay on late and get some precious black type in that 10.5f race but she was never able to land a blow having been dropped out early.
To be fair to the daughter of Lope De Vega, she wasn’t absolutely disgraced but, in hindsight, I think that trip was just a bit too far for her. I am going to give her one more chance now that she is dropping back to a mile.
The drop in distance isn’t my only reason for rowing in behind this filly again. She ran at Haydock three times last year at 6f-7f and she returned form figures of 321. Now, they were only handicaps but she clearly has a liking for this place and if she is going to nick some black type, this is the track where it is most likely to happen.
On her penultimate start at Pontefract she had the subsequent Listed Galway winner Tropical Island behind. Just 0.25l in front of her was Charlotte’s Web, who finished third in the 10f listed race we backed Vicario in at York and 3l ahead of her was Cheshire Dancer, a G3 winner at Ascot two weeks ago.
The form is in the book, hopefully Vicario can run into the money here at odds of 40/1.
2025 Curragh & Haydock Saturday Tip: Vicario e/w @ 40/1
3.00 Haydock – Rose Of Lancaster Stakes (Group 3)
He isn’t a massive price but Haunted Dream might be capable of going close in this 10.5f Group 3, even though Wathnan’s retained rider James Doyle prefers the chances of Haatem.
Danny Tudhope picks up a nice spare ride here and he has a 100% record when riding for Hamad Al Jehani. Now, he has admittedly only had one ride for him previously so it is not a big sample size but it was a listed winner.
Haunted Dream was well beaten behind Haatem at Ascot last time, which probably explains Doyle’s decision, but the son of Oasis Dream may have needed that first run for four months after a spell abroad and I am expecting a sharper performance from him today.
This 6yo has yet to win a stakes race but the form of his class 2 win at Goodwood last August, when he beat subsequent Queen Anne third Cairo, doesn’t look too shabby now.
He was only just behind Al Riffa when fourth to Shin Emperor in a Saudi G2 in February at this distance and he hosed up in a G2 at the Curragh last month. If Haunted Dream runs to that level here, he is surely capable of nicking a place at least at odds of 12/1.
2025 Curragh & Haydock Saturday Tip: Haunted Dream e/w @ 12/1 NB
3.25 Curragh – Phoenix Sprint Stakes (Group 3)
I expected big things from My Mate Alfie this year. He started the season slowly but he was narrowly denied by Vespertilio over C&D in a listed race last time out and I suspect he is going to have a big second half this season now that there is a little bit more moisture in the ground.
Ger Lyons’ sprinter finished a close third in this last year and I suspect he might go two places better this afternoon. I am not betting him here but I have backed him e/w at 40/1 ante-post for the Champion Sprint at Ascot later in the season because I remain convinced this horse can mix it at the very top of this division. However, he is too short for the blog this afternoon and I am torn between two horses at big odds with very different profiles.
Friend Of The Blog
Big Gossey, a good friend of the blog, wasn’t beaten far in this last year and he seems to save his best performances for stakes races rather than handicaps these days. We were on at big odds when he was a very unlucky third in the G2 Greenlands Stakes here back in May and if he can repeat that, he might pull off the shock at 16/1.
The other horse that has piqued my interest is the John James Feane 3yo filly, Fregada. A debut winner over C&D, she ran with great credit on her seasonal reappearance in a rated race at Naas. She pulled clear with the winner to finish a 0.5l second and 3l behind in fourth was Sounds Like A Plan, a winner of a Leopardstown handicap off 89 on his next start.
In that Naas race you could clearly see she was still green and it was only inside the final furlong that the penny dropped and she ran on very strongly. Feane sent Ano Syra out to finish second in this in 2022 and third in 2023 so he knows the calibre of horse you need to be competitive in it and 3yos have a decent record in this race.
With 4 places on offer, I am going to take a chance on Fregada at 33/1. I’ll also be having a small e/w interest on Big Gossey at 16s, just in case…
2025 Curragh & Haydock Saturday Tip: Fregada e/w @ 33/1 (4 places)
4.00 Curragh – Phoenix Stakes (Group 1)
A small field for this Group 1 for the 2yos and it will be the fourth year in a row there has been less than eight runners. It’s really frustrating for e/w players like ourselves because with only two places on offer and two likely looking Ballydoyle horses at the top of the market, it looks like the rest of the field will be looking to pick up the scraps in third.
We backed Power Blue at Ascot and he ran a blinder for us but he finished well behind Gstaad and he was even further behind True Love here last time so I can’t really justify tipping him here as he’ll need to produce something extraordinary to turn both those pieces of form around. I’ll be sick if he wins or comes second but the percentage call has to be no bet.
