Calling all prospective stallions - an open audition at Haydock this weekend

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On this occasion, Tom Peacock takes a closer look at the stallion-making Haydock Sprint – subscribers can get more great insight every Monday to Friday.

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Who would have your vote at this stage to be the year's top sprinter?

Our closest equivalent to the formal end-of-season classifications in America and elsewhere is the Cartier Awards, the latest updates for which were published last week.

Venetian Sun still has a clear lead, having gained a chunk of points in taking the Commonwealth Cup and finishing second in the July Cup. Unfortunately, that terrific filly has injured a tendon and won't be seen on track again this season, if ever.

Bacio has delivered the best visual effects, from laughing at his handicap mark at Royal Ascot and then stringing out all his rivals in the Nunthorpe. 

For all that he could easily become the real deal in time, if tilts at the Breeders' Cup and perhaps the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes in Australia work out, we're almost certainly not going to see the US visitor tested again in Europe this year.

It's perhaps harder for a sprinter to dominate the entirety of their division than for milers or middle-distance types. Races are more susceptible to being blown apart by the draw or a track bias, there's trouble in running to negotiate, less time for the jockey to do so and a wider range of horses clashing more regularly. Then again, if there was a Lochsong or a Battaash every other season, they wouldn't feel so special.

Just about all of the summer's key races have featured tight finishes and it could do with another horse to confidently step out from the crowd. This weekend's Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock is practically an open audition for one to do so.

There's more than just a Cartier award at stake on Saturday, too. The next month or so will almost certainly see a flurry of announcements as to which stallions are joining the ranks in 2027. It has already been initiated by Zavateri's signing for Tally-Ho.

The Sprint Cup undoubtedly laid the platform for Minzaal to head to stud with a sky-high reputation, having been unfortunately injured during his commanding victory in the 2022 edition.

A year earlier it had proved to be the final calling point for Starman, who finished a creditable close second and was sidelined during his preparations for a final start on Champions Day. 

In a departure from what has been the regular sight of high-end sprints being populated by grizzled geldings, handicappers on the make or fillies receiving allowances, we have a plethora of aspiring sires lining up. In fact, before the final declarations, nine of the remaining 13 were entire males and most were clustered at the head of the betting.

Almeraq, the ante-post favourite, is equally at the top of the list of those whose fate is held between their hooves, the epitome of a stallion in waiting. 

Bad has followed good in this colt's two Group 1 starts so far. Pretty much an unknown before he sneaked past Satono Reve and Joliestar in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, he then just didn't seem himself in the July Cup, through some combination of ground, course, or not getting enough cover.

A winner from soft to good to firm, Almeraq is pretty lightly raced for a four-year-old and could feasibly improve again next season, but equally he has a very seductive sprinter's pedigree.

Kind Of Blue beats Swingalong (far side) in the British Champions SprintCredit: Edward Whitaker

He's a son of Dark Angel (sire of 2017 winner Harry Angel) out of a mare by one of Shadwell's former champion sprinters, Muhaarar. That dam, Manaajim, is a half-sister to Evie Stockwell's Fairyland, who was a fair sixth to Hello Youmzain in this race in 2019 and later won the Flying Five.

Manaajim is out of a sibling of Dream Ahead, who pipped Bated Breath in 2011 and remains a perpetually underrated sire. He in turn was spun from generations of high-achieving sprinters going back to Vaigly Star, second in the 1982 July Cup.

There's everything there to make a top stallion in time but it doesn't seem unreasonable to want to see him do it again when it matters first.

Kind Of Blue is set to head to stud at the end of the season, Wathnan's Richard Brown said this week, and the belated rain is only going to aid his chances.

From a dynasty including 2018 hero The Tin Man which has been curated so well by the Morrises, Grundys and Hoppers, he has had a stop-start career arc so far. 

It would be wholly unfair to call the winner of the British Champions Sprint and the runner-up in this race for the last two years a “nearly horse” but a few other races haven't quite panned out for him. The next stage of his life would begin on a major high if the current chapter ended on one.

Second in the Cartier standings is Comanche Brave, who is testament to the skill and adventurous nature of his trainer Donnacha O'Brien. 

Back in February, the Wootton Bassett four-year-old ran in two different Gulf states within the space of a week, the first over a mile in a newly-upgraded event in Abu Dhabi. By the summer he was beating some of the world's best sprinters in the July Cup.

Commanche Brave and Ryan Moore win the Greenlands StakesCredit: Patrick McCann

The more points he accumulates on the board, the bigger the decisions for his connections at the end of the year.

Marvelman can take us even further down memory lane as he's a son of Invincible Spirit, who earned his passage through to being a stallion with victory on his final start in this very race 24 years ago for the late John Dunlop and in the maroon silks of his breeder Prince Faisal.

Invincible Spirit has been the grandsire, but not the direct sire, of a Sprint Cup winner, having claimed just about every speed race in what has been a transformative innings at the Irish National Stud, where he has been living in retirement.

Charlie Bond, who has made some ambitious signings, snapped up Marvelman after he waltzed away with last year's Park Stakes and was no doubt hoping he was partly investing in a commercial stallion prospect.

Big Mojo earned his laurels as last year's winner while Coppull, a Richmond winner and the collector of two more Group races this year, is in the same parish and has been threatening to win a very big one.

The trouble for Coppull is that Clive Cox has kept him on quicker surfaces and is unlikely to want to find the ground too deep. For all that the colt is out of a soft ground-winning Mayson mare, his trainer is rarely far off with his instincts.

Having pumped up the credentials of so many of these individuals, it now goes almost without saying that the race will now be won by one of the remaining geldings, perhaps the Wathnan back-up Paborus for former winner Ed Bethell.

At least I can say I've covered all bases.

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Pedigree pick

Salisbury is one of British racing's timeless charms and it stages a fantastic afternoon of racing today, with a handful of fascinating juvenile events including the Group 3 Dick Poole Stakes.

My eye was equally drawn to the preceding Quidhampton Maiden Fillies' Stakes (3.39) and a runner in the blue colours of Ian McAleavy and Tony Bloom, who has proved as astute with his equine purchases as his string of football interests.

Ellavarra, a 450,000gns Tattersalls Book 1 purchase by Ralph Beckett, is a Blackbeard half-sister to last year's Prix de l'Opera queen Barnavara. Beckett likes the picturesque Wiltshire track as a spot to introduce a nice newcomer and she could easily fit that bill, albeit with a number of other nicely bred rivals in attendance.