'He's in good nick' - quotes and analysis for competitive Windsor Sprint Series qualifier

Hughie Morrison, successful with two of his three runners at Windsor this season, has another live contender in Haymaker, who looks nicely drawn in stall three.

The four-year-old shaped well on his seasonal reappearance at Newbury when third to Bernardo O’Reilly, and won’t be inconvenienced by the faster ground.

From a handicapping perspective, though, he is 5lb higher than his commanding success at Ffos Las last August.

Indian Creak, one of two course-and-distance winners in the field, is another who competes from a mark some way above his most recent success – 6lb in this case.

Lethal Nymph, winner of back-to-back 6f handicaps at Ascot last September, resumes off a career-high mark of 96, which is 7lb higher than when posting the second of those wins.

Spanish Star acts on any ground but does go particularly well on soft. He is another sprinter who finds himself off a career-high rating after winning at Goodwood last time when conditions were ideal.

The Richard Hughes-trained Zero Carbon, 3lb better off with Haymaker judged on their Newbury runs last month, has since performed with credit over an inadequate trip at Ascot. He is back down to a winning mark and should run well off bottom weight.

Blackrod, who generally plies his trade in stronger handicaps than this, is also of interest, having been dropped 3lb after finishing 12th of 21 behind Probe in the valuable 6f handicap at Newmarket on 2,000 Guineas day, which he won last year off a 1lb higher mark.
Race analysis by Richard Birch

What they say

Clive Cox, trainer of Lethal Nymph
He did really well last year and he’s been waiting for a bit of drier ground. It’s nice to get him back on track. He’s the sort of horse that will probably benefit from his first outing of the year, but he’s in good nick and he’s got a nice draw.

George Baker, trainer of Watchya
He did us proud in Bahrain and ran really well in the Hever Sprint at Lingfield. We gave him a break after that and he’s come back fresh and bouncing. There are lots of lovely midsummer targets ahead for him. I think he’s in good order but he’ll probably come on a little bit for the run.

Stuart Williams, trainer of Bear Profit
It’s his first run back. We gelded him over the winter. He’s fit enough for his first run; he’ll probably come on a little bit for it but he’s in very good form. He’s run well at Windsor before and we’ve got Sean Levey in the saddle, so we’re very hopeful.

Richard Hughes, trainer of Zero Carbon
We just needed him to race properly and drop the bit last time [over five furlongs]. He did that and finished strongly. He’ll need them to run hard because he’s going to be dropped in with his draw, so we need a bit of luck on our side.
Reporting by Charlie Huggins

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