Will the three-year-olds or old guard hold sway in the Hackwood Stakes?

4.00 Newbury
Bet365 Hackwood Stakes (Group 3) | 6f | 3yo+ | ITV4/RTV

The positive influence of the Commonwealth Cup on races like the July Cup and Sprint Cup has already been brought up on several occasions, not least in these pages. What had not been fully appreciated was the extent to which that influence filtered down.

The Hackwood is not conclusive proof, but is at least circumstantial evidence that sprints have come firmly back in fashion for three-year-olds. Between 2010 and 2014, just five of the Hackwood's 45 cumulative runners were aged three. Since 2015, the year the Commonwealth Cup was first run, it has been 21 of 46.

That rather puts the recent record of three-year-olds into context. Their record is really no better than it ought to be, given how many are being tried.

The 2020 running is actually quite a sparse one for three-year-olds, only two of the 12 are so young. Mums Tipple is going to bankrupt clock-watchers before too long, as he has flopped on all three starts since demolishing the field at York in an excellent time. Most worrying of all has been how intractable he looked, even returned to 6f for the Commonwealth Cup last time. It was enough to put off this long-time fan for the time being.

The other three-year-old is Repartee, who has taken a more gradual route to this level. It could be argued, on bare ratings, that he is doing so plenty soon enough. He's second-bottom on adjusted Racing Post Ratings, having about a stone to make up, but won in style last time so it's easy to imagine him bridging the gap at least to some extent.

The older sprinters are not merely providing more of the same, excluding the known-and-loved quantities The Tin Man and Judicial. Dakota Gold is a likely pace angle and a form contender, although the vast majority of his 6f form has been at more speed-favouring tracks, so it's valid to have concerns about him lasting out the trip.

Summerghand is a handicapper who has more than earned his promotion. His Pontefract win off 105 last time was not just due compensation for all his near misses in big handicaps, but actually an improvement in form terms. He's clearly, at least, Listed class.

Speaking personally, the Mums Tipple direct debit has been cancelled just in time to indulge another little project. Shine So Bright is neither quite good enough for Group 1s nor quite settled enough for 7f these days, while he is no longer penalised for last year's City Of York win. He will not get many better chances to show himself the Group-class 6f horse he is suspected to be.
Keith Melrose, betting editor

'He's a happy horse and thriving'

It is by no means uncommon for sprinters to get better with age, and that certainly applies to prolific eight-year-old Judicial, winner of 15 of his 37 races.

The son of Iffraaj had an official rating of 97 at around this time during his four-year-old days, but is likely to start favourite for the Hackwood off his career-high 109.

Judicial: won the Group 3 Chipchase Stakes at Newcastle last monthCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

He put up arguably the best performance of his life to land the Group 3 Chipchase Stakes over 6f at Newcastle last month by a length and a half from Brando, and has formed a fine partnership with Callum Rodriguez.

Steve Brown, assistant to trainer Julie Camacho, said: “He has improved for moving back up to six furlongs, and we hope there’s more to come.

"He missed the July Cup with a dirty scope. We took the decision to give him a five-day treatment rather than run him. That seems to have worked as he's in good form now.

"A 3lb penalty won't help, but he's not had a huge amount of racing for his age and we're anticipating another good run. He's a happy horse, and is thriving.

"Callum, who has ridden Judicial in his last three starts, gets on well with him. Later in the season, we'll be looking at higher-grade races such as at Haydock in September, but we're focused on Newbury now."

What they say

Stuart Williams, trainer of Keystroke
He's been a little disappointing in his two races this season, but things haven't really gone his way in them. He finished third in the Hackwood last year, and we're putting cheekpieces on to hopefully wake him up at the start. He's in very good form, and I hope he'll run a good race.

David O'Meara, trainer of Summerghand
He won well at Pontefract and was unlucky not to win the Wokingham at Ascot the time before after getting held up a bit and only beaten a nose. He's in good form, but it's obviously a tough race.

James Fanshawe, trainer of The Tin Man
He was a bit rusty at Ascot in the Diamond Jubilee, but still ran a good race. It's a Group 3 rather than a Group 1 this time, and he’s really well at home. Judicial won the Chipchase last time, and maybe it will turn into the battle of the eight-year-olds.

Roger Teal, trainer of Tip Two Win
John Egan rode him for the first time at Newmarket on his latest start over seven furlongs, and suggested afterwards that we drop back to six. If John’s right I think he’s got a decent chance of a place; if he’s wrong John will have to carry the can. It turned into a very testing race at Newmarket with a fierce headwind and Tip Two Win was drawn on the outside with no cover. The yard is in form, and I'd love it if he could get among them.

Richard Hannon, trainer of Mums Tipple
We probably shouldn't have run him last time at Ascot on ground which was simply too soft for him. He'll be much happier on the better surface here and we've got Ryan Moore, who was on board at York, back in the plate. Hopefully, he can show what we know he's capable of and get his career back on track.

Adam Ryan, assistant to Kevin Ryan, trainer of Repartee
It was a good return from him at Windsor; I thought he did it very well. He's come on for the run and goes there as an improving three-year-old. It's another step up, but he's in great order. We're very happy with him.

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