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Sprint Cup Haydock day 3 tips – Sacred could surprise the Sprint Cup favourite

After Thursday and Friday served as warm-up acts, the main event is nearly upon us. The Sprint Cup Celebration culminates with some first-class racing at Haydock Park on Saturday afternoon. Ahead of the final day of the meeting, after finding winners on both the first and second day, it’s time to see if we can find some value in the betting for day three.

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Photo by Icon Sport.

Saturday’s feature race will of course be the Betfair Sprint Cup Stakes, which is a Group 1 contest, but that’s far from the only race to get excited about, as it’s top-quality action from start to finish at the Merseyside track. Let’s see what we can come across in terms of worthwhile bets.

Betting tips for day three of the Sprint Cup Celebration at Haydock Park

Below are the horses worth supporting ahead of the third day:

15:00 – Betfair Exchange Old Borough Cup Handicap

The third race on Saturday’s card at Haydock is the Betfair Exchange Old Borough Cup Handicap, which is run over one mile and six furlongs. 15 runners are due to go to post and several seemingly hold serious claims.

Sea King warrants respect following that win at Goodwood last time out, though he has more on his plate here from a higher mark, while Aztec Empire is clearly thriving at the minute and has hinted that his turn may not be far away. However, I’m siding with the old boy Euchen Glen, who is due another day in the sun at a meeting of this nature.

Jim Goldie’s ten-year-old has run well on countless occasions in strong, big-field handicaps such as this and after his recent fourth at York, where he didn’t get a clear run at something of a crucial point, he warrants support here. Each of his last two runs put him at the forefront of this contest if you ask me and each of those two efforts suggest that he ought to be a little shorter than early odds of 12/1.

We’re also talking about a horse than is well below his last winning mark, so nobody could be surprised if he was to pop up here, let’s be honest. He’s won a race like this at Haydock before and to be honest, this isn’t the deepest Class 2 handicap, at least in terms of strength in depth, so I’m betting on him to put in yet another big performance.

Best bet – Euchen Glen (each-way) @ 12/1 (13.00)

15:35 – Betfair Sprint Cup Stakes

As mentioned in the full preview and predictions for the Betfair Sprint Cup, Sacred is a horse that we should not forget about. Of course, most of the attention here will be on Shaquille. Will he once again prove too good? Will his customary slow start finally cost him? The early betting shows us that the favourite is expected to get the job done here, but this is far from a one horse race. There are some very, very good competitors here, one of which is Sacred, who at 11/1 is just too big.

The mount of Tom Marquand has largely been run over seven furlongs, but he’s not without form over six furlongs. In fact, the form of his run in the prestigious Group 1 Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot is up there with the best in here. He finished a neck behind Khaadem on that occasion after getting to the front what was almost certainly too soon. If Marquand can get him better placed here and come with a later run then i’d be stunned if he didn’t reverse those placing, and who knows, maybe he’ll get his head in front. Either way, the form of that race is hard to ignore, so much so that 12/1 just looks far too generous.

Best bet – Sacred (each-way) @ 12/1

16:10 – Betfair Be Friendly Handicap

The calm after the Sprint Cup storm at Haydock on Saturday will be the Betfair Be Friendly Handicap, which while not a patch on the feature contest is a decent race in its own right.

In the early betting, recent two-time winner JM Jungle is just about favourite, though I think that’s wrong. For my money, Alligator Alley has done more than enough to be a decent favourite for this race and he may well will be once the market develops further. While 4/1 is available in the early betting, I’ll be having some of that.

David O’Meara’s six-year-old finally got his head back in front last time out, taking advantage of a reduced mark to win nicely over this trip on the all-weather at Newcastle. He’s naturally gone up 5 lb for that victory, but he appeared to have a bit in hand on that occasion, while he remains nicely treated on some of his old form, which in the grand scheme of things, isn’t that old. Now rated 96, this horse won from a mark of 100 back in January, so I really wouldn’t be surprised if he goes in again here.

Not out of the places in any of his last four races, some of which have been better than this, Alligator Alley has plenty of form that says he can run a big race here, so I’m betting on him to make it a double and come home in front.

Best bet – Alligator Alley @ 4/1


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