The current campaign hasn’t gone quite to plan for Appleby by his own brilliant standards. Haydock has been a happy hunting ground for Charlie Appleby so far this season, however. With five winners from his nine runners there so far this year, his 56 per cent strike-rate is very healthy indeed.
Appleby is set to send just two runners up to Haydock for their meeting on Thursday and they have to be considered. Both are currently unraced and they could be interesting prospects, with William Buick on board. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Wild Goddess (6-4, bet365) makes her debut in a 6f maiden. It’s fair to say that Appleby knows the family well, having trained her dam, who won over 7f as a two-year-old and placed in Group company. Her half-sister is also currently trained by Appleby and won convincingly on her second start at Kempton in November. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that Wild Goddess is capable of winning a race of this stature, although this daughter of Camelot may want further in time.
Hidden Pass (EVS, bet365) will be bidding to extend Charlie Appleby’s excellent record with his juveniles on turf so far this season. With 11 winners from 24 runners, this 46 per cent strike-rate is more than healthy. This horse wasn’t a cheap purchase at €400,000 and connections will expect a good performance on debut. His dam was a useful performer at 7f and a mile for Hamdan Al Maktoum and wasn’t beaten far in a Group 1 at Newmarket. Dubawi is consistently one of the best stallions around and 7f looks like a sensible starting point for this colt.
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