Aidan O'Briens's Mullins Bay is obviously a good traveller
and, passport in his back pocket, he heads for England for
the third time in a row to contest the Petros Rose of
Lancaster Stakes at Haydock on Saturday.
His last two outings have been in big handicaps at York.
He finished second to the smart Imperial Stride at the Royal
meeting then trotted up in one of the most competitive
handicaps of the season, the John Smith’s Cup.
After that
romp handicaps were off the agenda and Mullins Bay now
steps into Pattern company. As stated many times before, the
gap between Listed or Group 3 races and top handicaps isn’t
that great and Mullins Bay is more than capable of making
the jump.
Judged on an earlier run at York, Aidan O'Brien's runner was
something of a handicap snip on his return to the track, and
he duly won going away by three lengths. Unraced as a
two-year-old, the half brother to the useful Stagecraft is
now rewarding the patience of his connections and he looks
capable of better still.
The extra distance of Saturday's
race should be ideal, and he should take all the beating
under Kieran Fallon, who did us a big favour when landing
the Stewards Cup on Gift Horse last Saturday (recommended
ante post at 8/1).
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