Haydock Park: Dettori and Moore Eyeing Big Race Successes

All roads lead to Merseyside this weekend, with Haydock Park scheduled to stage one of its biggest horse racing meetings of the year.

The action gets underway on Friday evening, with a competitive six-race card serving as the perfect aperitif for the following day.

The highlight on Saturday is undoubtedly the John of Gaunt Stakes – a Group 3 event over seven furlongs that has attracted several intriguing runners.

Read on as we preview the race and some of the other top-class action scheduled to take place at Haydock on Saturday.

While just six runners will line up in the seven furlongs John of Gaunt Stakes at 3.35 pm, picking a winner is no easy task.

Star Australian sprinter The Astrologist has to give weight away to the rest of the field, but will be a popular pick on horse racing betting sites under jockey Ryan Moore.

However, the value bet could be El Caballo, who is on a recovery mission after running poorly on his seasonal reappearance on unsuitable ground.

The Karl-Burke-trained horse won a Group 2 event at this track last season and should be ideally suited by the firmer conditions this weekend.

Moore will fancy his chances of getting a winner on the board when he rides Time Lock in the Lester Piggott Stakes at 3.00 pm.

The horse finished second in the Galtres Stakes at York last season and that form has since been franked with the winner Haskoy winning the Al Rayyan Stakes at Newbury last month.

However, the Roger Charlton four-year-old is unlikely to find things easy, with several of his rivals fancied to run well this weekend.

They include Modaara, who is stepping up in class after an easy win at Kempton. Group 2 winner Mimikyu should also be competitive under jockey Frankie Dettori.

Dettori rode a double on his most recent visit to Haydock and will be eager to repeat the feat when he heads north for just two rides on Saturday.

He has an excellent chance of a winner in the Achilles Stakes at 1.15 pm, with Equilateral priced at odds of 3/1 on several new betting sites to emerge victorious.

Equilateral ran a stormer to finish second in the Group 2 Temple Stakes at this track on his last outing and could be tough to beat now he has been dropped in grade.

With the weather set fair for the weekend, the eight-year-old will have the conditions he loves and should be difficult to keep out of the frame.