Trainer record gives Liberty Beach and Keep Busy strong claims in Temple Stakes

Liberty Beach: finished third in the Prix de l'Abbaye on her last startCredit: Edward Whitaker

4.10 Haydock
Casumo Best Odds Guaranteed Temple Stakes (Group 2) | 5f | 3yo+ | ITV4/RTV

Battaash has scorched the Haydock turf on his way to winning the last two runnings of this race and this year will be all the poorer for his absence. However, it does leave the door wide open for those sprinters who fall just short of the top class to record a deserved Group 2 win.

John Quinn saddles two such runners, Liberty Beach and Keep Busy, and both were placed in Group 1 company last season but have yet to record a victory at higher than Group 3 level.

Quinn has a fine record in Group races below the top level. Since the start of 2010, Quinn has saddled seven winners from 33 runners in Group 2 and 3 contests in Britain and Ireland. That's a 21 per cent strike-rate and a £1 bet on each yielded a profit of £24.63.

Quinn has only once saddled more than one runner in a Group race in Britain and Ireland in that time and that was when the same two who compete here, Keep Busy and Liberty Beach, finished second and seventh respectively in the Group 1 Flying Five at the Curragh last year.

Liberty Beach has won at a higher level (Group 3) than Keep Busy (Listed) and did reverse the Curragh places when the pair filled third and fifth in the Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp in October, but Keep Busy is rated 3lb better than Liberty Beach on Racing Post Ratings.

There evidently isn't much between them and jockey bookings are unlikely to give us a clue either. Jason Hart has ridden both runners on a combined 19 occasions, but Ryan Moore has been preferred for Keep Busy since she was bought by Doreen Tabor last September and it's therefore no surprise Hart is on Liberty Beach. Oisin Murphy is in for Moore on Keep Busy.

Hart has been the partner for Jabbarockie on his last three starts and has steered him to victory on the last two occasions, but Harrison Shaw takes over here.

Shaw partnered Jabbarockie to victory in a handicap at Musselburgh in August 2019, but has ridden him only once since and this will be just his second ride in a Group race in Britain and Ireland.

Race analysis by Graeme Rodway

No ground concerns for Quinn pair

Underfoot conditions may be more conducive to swimming than sprinting, but testing conditions hold no fears for trainer John Quinn, who fields two of the leading contenders in Liberty Beach and Keep Busy.

Liberty Beach, the likely favourite, was beaten half a length when third on heavy ground in the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp last October, a race in which stablemate Keep Busy finished a length and a half away in fifth place.

John Quinn: happy with both his filliesCredit: Pool

Both fillies are making their first starts of 2021, and Quinn reports them to be in excellent shape.

“They’re fit and well, and I’m happy with them,” he said. “The ease in the ground won’t both either of them – they go on all sorts of ground.”

Both are entered in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot next month and this race comes at a good time with that Group 1 in mind.

What the rest say

Karl Burke, trainer of Ainsdale and Lady In France
Both have got their ground. On ratings, Ainsdale has a lot to do, but he’s a different horse on soft or heavy. He ran very well from a bad draw at Chester last time – if he’d been drawn low he might have won the race. We tried Lady In France over six furlongs at York, but it didn’t work – she’s a five-furlong filly. She handles soft ground well and should get the fast pace to aim at which she enjoys. I’m very hopeful.

Eric Alston, trainer of Jabbarockie
We also had him entered at York, but the owners are local to Haydock so we thought we’d have a go at the big time. It’s a tough race, but he’s in great order. I don’t know if he’ll handle very soft or heavy but he’s no good on good to firm and he’s never been better. These old sprinters can get better with age and he looks another example of that. He’s got blinding speed.

John Butler, trainer of Declaring Love
She’s been improving all year and will go on the ground. We’re expecting a good run. I’m sure she’s improved again for her last run at Bath and I’m hoping she can get placed to enhance her pedigree further.

Reporting by Richard Birch

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2.10 Goodwood: Paul Kealy believes likely pacesetter shouldn't be underestimated on his return

2.45 Curragh: Glen Shiel bids to defy testing conditions in big sprint

3.00 Haydock: can eyecatching Thirsk winner Raadobarg land a hat-trick in Silver Bowl?

3.20 Curragh: get the thoughts of Aidan O'Brien before Saturday's Irish 2,000 Guineas

3.35 Haydock: Graeme Rodway believes Sandy Lane favourite could be something special