Rose Of Lancaster Stakes Tips & Betting Preview

A popular and well contested Group Three that has been won over the years exclusively by the big name trainers and this year may not be any exception. As mentioned elsewhere Richard Fahey does well in the televised races and rarely walks away without at least one winner and he has Gabrial (12/1 Each Way) in here as the seven-year-old looks for his ninth career win on his fifty-fourth start. Somehow he seems to be getting better with age and was only beaten three and three quarter lengths behind The Gurkha at odds of 50/1 in the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, and a repeat of that Group One form over this extra two furlongs would make him a major player, and it’s a risk well worth taking at the prices in our considered view.

Godolphin last won this in 2012 with Hunter’s Light but according to the official ratings they have the best chance in 2016 with Scottish (2/1) who will be ridden by William Buick. Lightly raced this season with just the two starts, he built on a third to Time Test in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown in late May with a Listed re defeat of Berkshire at Newbury in the Steventon Stakes in July and should be spot on to step back up in company this afternoon. Those are his only two races for Charlie Appleby since leaving the care of Andrew Balding and there may well be a bit more left in the locker making him a serious challenger for this valuable event.

With the Sir Michael Stoute horses in great form in the big races, Arab Spring (7/2) deserves his place near the top of our race preview even though he hasn’t been seen on the track since being beaten a head by Western Hymn at Sandown in May 2015. He had previously won the Group Three John Porter Stakes at Newbury over a mile and a half on his seasonal debut, suggesting that barring injury he is quite easy to get straight first time out, and was fourth to Cavalryman in 2014 in the Group Two Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket’s July meeting so has some rock solid form, though whether he retains the speed for a mile and a quarter is the big question and with the lack of a recent race he may be better watched than backed for now.

Three-year-olds can win this race historically and John Gosden’s Foundation (11/4) arrives here on a bit of a recovery mission after a poor season so far. His juvenile season was a revelation with wins at Haydock (twice) and Newmarket when he took the Group Two Royal Lodge Stakes when beating Deauville by three-quarters of a length, but started this season with an odds on second at Newmarket in the Craven Stakes with a third to Wings Of Desire in the Dante Stakes at York and most recently a last of sixteen to Almanzor in the Prix Du Jockey Club (French Derby) at Chantilly in early June. That run was too bad to be true though he was trapped wide throughout and the softer going was all against him, but with a couple of months off to recover he is just the sort to bounce back here in this lesser race and should not be discounted too easily.

Last but not least and Mark Johnston’s Fire Fighting (10/1) as is tough as teak and won his tenth career start last time out at Goodwood when beating Oasis Fantasy by a hard fought neck. He did have a tough race that day which may have taken a bit out of him and in all honesty he doesn’t really look up to this but he wont go under without a fight and deserves a mention for that reason at least.