Penhill 7/2 @ Haydock

Paul Ferguson has one selection for us on Saturday; Penhill in the Haydock 14:50. Compare odds and bet.

With the ground turning soft at Haydock on Thursday, conditions in the Old Newton Cup should be just about ideal for expensive purchase Penhill (2:50) who can provide Luca Cumani with a fourth win in the race since 2004.

The trainer saddled Alkaased, Zeitgeist and Mad Rush to win the race between 2004 and 2008, and his imposing son of Mount Nelson won with a bit in hand on his debut for the yard at Ascot on his seasonal reappearance.

Disappointing on his most recent start at Newmarket (as he did the time before when running there), Cumani blamed the track, while the ground would have been quicker than ideal, too. A big horse who likes to get his toe in, he beat Notarised in soft ground in last year’s Ripon Bell-Ringer and he ought to relish the prevailing conditions.

Of the opposition Battersea returns to action on a mark from which he can land a nice prize and, though he hasn’t been seen yet this season, he has held other entries so should be ready. I have had this race in mind for him for some time (as Racing Ahead magazine readers will know) but I just fear the ground will be slower than ideal for Roger Varian’s four-year-old. His Ascot form from last year (had Penhill well behind on one occasion) now reads really well, however, and he is very much a horse to be interested in with the future in mind.

At bigger odds Farquhar has form on a soft surface, has won at the track, and will appreciate the drop in class. He can go well for Peter Chapple-Hyam and Pat Cosgrave.

Saturday’s selection:
2:50 Haydock: Penhill; 7/2 bet365

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