'The race could set up well for him' - trainers on their runners in the big handicap at Ascot

Correctly identifying a draw bias in a big-field handicap has never felt so tricky. Recent trends were turned on their head when low-drawn runners bossed the Cambridgeshire last week and the Challenge Cup could go either way from a draw perspective.

Last year runners on the stands' side held sway when the surface was good. The same happened in 2019 on soft going. Sandwiched between those two runnings were dominant performances from those on the far side on contrasting ground conditions in 2021 and 2022.

Perhaps there is merit in keeping it simple and adopting the conservative strategy of playing one from each side. Interesting three-year-olds Volterra (stall two), Germanic (four) and Qirat (12) are prominent in the betting and have the right sort of profiles.

Volterra won in his group of ten in the Britannia at Royal Ascot, alleviating any track concerns. He could easily raise his game dropped to 7f on soft ground. Germanic produced a promising handicap debut on similar going at the St Leger meeting and will garner plenty of attention for William Haggas, while Qirat is starting to turn things up a notch.

That is to be expected from the half-brother to Arc-bound Bluestocking, given that filly's development as a four-year-old, and he defeated subsequent impressive Listed winner Witness Stand with a bit to spare.

There are few greater Ascot specialists in training than Fresh (five) and he will always merit Placepot consideration here.

So should Haggas's second string Brewing (eight) and United Approach (13) in his first-time cheekpieces. Light campaigns can be an advantage at this time of year and these two fit that brief.

A progressive all-weather performer, Brewing shaped okay following a 228-day break at Doncaster on his turf debut and that may have sharpened him up. He is lightly raced for a five-year-old, while United Approach revels in testing conditions and ran a good trial for this here last month.
Analysis by Robbie Wilders

What they say

Michael Bell, trainer of Carrytheone
He's had an excellent season. He has a big weight, but he's still on a mark which historically he can be competitive off. Jamie Spencer has a very good record on the straight track at Ascot and the horse clearly likes it there. He won on soft at Chepstow. There are definite causes for optimism.

Ed Walker, trainer of Popmaster
He failed by just a nose to reel in the winner last year and, while he's found life tough in Group company this season, he's 2lb lower in the handicap 12 months on. He has track and ground in his favour and the race could set up well for him.

Eve Johnson Houghton, trainer of Streets Of Gold and Star Of Orion
They're high in the handicap, but they're both good old warriors who should be thereabouts.

William Haggas, trainer of Brewing and Germanic
Brewing was a bit rusty at Doncaster. I think he's come on for the run. He's a decent horse. Germanic ran well at Doncaster. He was a little bit free that day and we might ride him a bit more circumspectly this time. He's a nice horse.

Charlie Hills, trainer of Divine Libra
He's run well there before and the track and ground will suit him. He ran a great race last time and has been running well pretty much all year. He's quite good fresh, so we've had the chance to freshen him up.

Adam Ryan, assistant to Kevin Ryan, trainer of Volterra
He ran a great race at York and just got caught late on. The drop back to seven furlongs should be no problem for him. The ground is a bit of a worry at this time of year, but he goes there in great order and we're looking forward to seeing him run a big race.
Reporting by Richard Birch

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