Almeraq set to strike Ayr gold

IF Almeraq has any pretensions of living up to his Group One engagement, he really needs to be winning the Fergie and Myra Happel Ayr Gold Cup Trial Handicap.

- By NICK ROBSON

The three-year-old represents powerful connections, being owned by Shadwell and trained by William Haggas.

Haggas has him in the Stewards’ Cup and he will almost certainly need to strike gold in Scotland off his mark of 90 just to have a chance of getting into that fiercely competitive Goodwood handicap.

Even more intriguingly, however, the son of Dark Angel has been given an early entry in the Sprint Cup at Haydock, which may seem ambitious at this stage but there is a lot of scope for improvement and as No Half Measures and American Affair have proved this season, there is very little between the best handicap sprinters and the top-level performers.

Almeraq was second on his Newbury debut before going one better at Yarmouth on his final start at two and was trying to give Spy Chief 7lb on his return from eight months off the track at Yarmouth in June.