Confirmed runners and riders for the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday

Ralph Beckett has chosen to run Lezoo rather than Kinross in Saturday's Betfair Sprint Cup (3.35) as a maximum field of 17, headed by sprint star Shaquille, was declared for the Haydock Group 1.

The pair, who race in the colours of Marc Chan, played their part in a big-race treble the Saturday before last for the red-hot trainer and Lezoo has got the nod over 7f specialist Kinross for the Sprint Cup.

Last year's Cheveley Park Stakes winner Lezoo will be ridden for the first time by Rossa Ryan, who won the July Cup on Shaquille when stepping in for James Doyle.

Due to his commitments for Godolphin, Doyle also missed out on Shaquille's Commonwealth Cup success when Oisin Murphy was in the saddle, but he is back on board as Julie Camacho's stable star bids for a Group 1 hat-trick.

July Cup runner-up Run To Freedom, who concedes 2lb to Shaquille this time rather than the 6lb at Newmarket, represents trainer Henry Candy and owner Godfrey Wilson, who teamed up to win the race with the five-year-old's half-brother Twilight Son in 2015. Candy also took the 2010 running with Markab.

Other runners in the £400,000 contest include Prix Maurice de Gheest second Spycatcher, Wokingham winner Saint Lawrence and Regional, winner of the Listed Achilles Stakes at the course in May, as well as supplemented pair Mill Stream and Believing.

With the race attracting 18 final declarations, the Richard Hannon-trained Happy Romance (Paul Mulrennan) has been placed as a reserve.

Betfair's Barry Orr said: ‘’Shaquille is odds on 4-5 but we’ve been laying some of the outsiders against him. Rohaan is 25-1 (from 40-1), Sacred is 10-1 (from 12-1) and Mill Stream is 11-1 (from 14-1)’’.

The ground at Haydock was described as good on Thursday morning, with dry and warm conditions forecast through to Saturday.

Sprint Cup confirmed runners and riders

Annaf Alistair Rawlinson
Garrus Ben Curtis
Khaadem Jamie Spencer
Regional Callum Rodriguez
Rohaan Neil Callan
Run To Freedom Trevor Whelan
Saint Lawrence Luke Morris
Spycatcher Joe Fanning
Mill Stream Marco Ghiani
Rumstar Rob Hornby
Shaquille James Doyle
Shouldvebeenaring Sean Levey
The Antarctic Cieren Fallon
Sacred Tom Marquand
Believing Jason Hart
Lezoo Rossa Ryan
Swingalong Clifford Lee

Betfair Sprint Cup (3.35 Saturday, Haydock)

Betfair: 4-5 Shaquille, 10 Spycatcher, Sacred, 11 Mill Stream, 12 Regional, Lezoo, Saint Lawrence, 16 Believing, 20 bar

Sprint Cup tip and 1-2-3 prediction

By Stuart Redding

1 Shaquille
2 Saint Lawrence
3 Mill Stream

Shaquille has been the star of the sprinters this summer and should record another victory here. A tendency to start slowly hasn't held him back and he easily added the July Cup to his CV when taking on older rivals for the first time at Newmarket last time. Saint Lawrence is the most appealing each-way alternative, ahead of the supplemented Mill Stream.