Hoping Haydock is next for Sense Of Duty as summer racing hots up

The six-furlong division is particularly interesting at the moment and on Saturday we may have seen the horse to blow it apart.

Naval Crown's shock Platinum Jubilee win showed how the big Group 1 sprints over the distance are there for the taking if you can put it all together on the day, and the William Haggas-trained Sense Of Duty certainly did that in the Group 3 Chipchase at Newcastle at the weekend.

She has been a filly of immense promise since easing to victory on her second start as a juvenile and it was easy to get the impression Haggas thought a great deal of her at the start of the season.

I was gathering quotes for Tom Segal's ante-post Pricewise column on the 1,000 Guineas and Sense Of Duty was one of the most interesting fillies on the list, having won as she liked on her second start over six furlongs.

Even then her trainer was questioning whether the step up in trip was the right decision, mentioning the French 1,000 Guineas as an option as it was an easier mile than Newmarket. His instinct has been proved emphatically correct in her three runs this season.

She got the better of subsequent Commonwealth Cup third Flotus in a driving finish to the Cecil Frail at Haydock in May and took her form to yet another level at the weekend.

She was slowly into stride and was being niggled along by Tom Marquand at halfway, which made me question both whether she was up to this class and if she was totally in love with the surface.

Both of those doubts proved unfounded as she exploded away from the field once finding her stride, dispatching her rivals by four and a half lengths at the line.

There are reasons to question the bare form as the next three home were 16-1, 22-1 and 50-1, with the more established performers Glen Shiel and Spycatcher among the last ones home.

However, she completed the course nearly a second quicker than the 88-rated Raatea in the previous handicap over the same course and distance, and races as if there is still more to come.

Sense Of Duty was an impressive winner at NewcastleCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

She pricked her ears crossing the line, which often suggests a horse has more to give, and Marquand also referenced that she was still "learning to race" in the post-race interview.

She is clearly improving, but there was evidence of that at Haydock too, where she took time to warm up, and I'd love to see her return to that racecourse for the Sprint Cup next.

Quiet Reflection, another three-year-old filly by Showcasing, won the race in 2016 and we already know Sense Of Duty handles the track.

To put her chance into context, Quiet Reflection recorded a Racing Post Rating of 113 when winning the Commonwealth Cup and, given Sense Of Duty eclipsed that rating by 1lb on Saturday and has already beaten the third in the Royal Ascot Group 1, she is surely worth a try at the top level.

There is still room for improvement in her racecraft as she can take time to engage top gear, but her Newcastle run was another step in the right direction and cut in the ground, which is often commonplace at Haydock, could serve to help her in that regard.

Another three-year-old filly to keep an eye on is the James Tate-trained Royal Aclaim, who returned with a powerful performance at Bath this month.

The style of her victory went some way to justifying any number of fancy entries. One of them is in the Nunthorpe, for which she is a 25-1 shot, and she could be a dark horse in the sprinting ranks this summer.

King George looks a summer scorcher

It is often said the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes has lost its lustre in recent years, but last year it was won by the Derby winner for the first time since the mighty Galileo in 2001 and this year's race could be even better.

The prospect of round two between Epsom winner Desert Crown and Westover, who put right the wrong of his unlucky third on the Downs in no uncertain fashion in the Irish Derby at the Curragh on Saturday, is truly exciting.

Part of the reason is because they strike me as two very different individuals. Desert Crown is a strong-travelling colt with a turn of foot that would surely see him win a Group 1 over ten furlongs.

Westover is a rangy galloper who benefited from a prominent and aggressive ride on Saturday. He reminds me a little of another son of Frankel in Cracksman, who was at his best when allowed to use his bounding stride.

Both of them could stay in training at four, which is superb news for Flat racing fans, and Ascot won't be a two-horse race either.

John Gosden likes to run three-year-old fillies in the King George and it proved a winning move in 2014 and 2017 with Taghrooda and Enable. Agonising Oaks runner-up Emily Upjohn has already been compared to those fillies and looks up to a similar standard.

Three-year-old colts will receive 11lb from their elders, fillies an extra 3lb, so it will be no easy task for last year's winner Adayar, who will be returning from a setback if he runs.

Add in his stablemate Hurricane Lane, the Eclipse-bound Alenquer and better-than-ever Broome and it could be one of those midsummer scorchers of yesteryear.

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