'He's been a bit of a revelation' - quotes and analysis for Newcastle's £50,000 Gosforth Park Cup sprint

Newcastle's straight course is one of the noisiest in the country. A stiff finish and a prevailing, semi-coastal wind into the runners' faces up the straight often works against front runners. Meanwhile, the same changeable conditions make draw analysis difficult.

Over five furlongs, the formula changes. Here the pace bias is less reliable, as the practicalities of Newcastle clash with the general rule that early pace wins sprints. Two of the Gosforth Park Cup's seven winners on the all-weather led early on and two more tracked the pace.

Meanwhile, the draw shows a more marked bias than over the other distances on the straight course here. In a nutshell, no one side is favoured over the other but middle draws do somewhat poorly.

Last year in this race, the horse who stayed glued to the near rail won and the horse who broke from stall one was second. Winner Vintage Clarets returns. He is rated 7lb higher now, but has won more than £80,000 in the meantime, so that seems a fair cop. A middle draw in seven is not so easily dealt with.

Vintage Clarets: bidding to repeat last year's successCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Young horses do well in the race, as you would expect. Three- and four-year-olds have made up 27 per cent of runners in the race. They have produced 43 per cent of winners and 33 per cent of placed horses.

Their cohort is four-strong this year and four-year-olds Thunder Moor and Prince Of Zenda make most appeal. The former is a logical favourite: in-form, drawn high and 1-1 on the all-weather. Prince Of Zenda has a middle draw and has never run at five furlongs, but he has shown loads of speed on his two runs at Newcastle, which have been the two best of his life. At a course with loads of vagaries, sometimes the most valuable attribute is having the relevant experience here.
Analysis by Keith Melrose

What they say

Tim Palin, racing manager to Middleham Park Racing, owners of Prince Of Zenda, Ziggy's Missile and Monsieur Kodi
Prince Of Zenda has been a bit of a revelation since we came back to sprinting and ever since we did come back to six, myself and Hugo [Palmer, trainer] thought he can go all the way back to the minimum. He's got so much boot, so why fight it? I believe he dipped under the previous six-furlong track record when he was second to Misty Grey, so he's certainly no slouch and he's got a liking for the track. We're not sure if the all-weather brought the improvement out of Ziggy's Missile but he did rise through the ranks at an alarming rate at the start of the year when races weren't quite as competitive. He's been a bit disappointing on the return to turf, so that's why we're coming back here. Monsieur Kodi started the season over five and that was his second-best run of the year. He's maybe not quite in the same form as he was last year which is probably reflective in his third-colour chances in our string. It might just be a little bit punchy for where he is at the moment, although he is below his previous winning mark when he won the Stewards' Cup Consolation.

Paul Midgley, trainer of Burning Cash
He's been a little bit in and out but I thought he did well to win at Thirsk last month. In the good sprint there last time he missed the start a little bit but ran on and hit the line strongly to finish fifth, so you can mark that run up. He can win off this rating.
Reporting by Charlie Huggins

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