Hawk Eyeing Stewards Cup Prize

The Jim Goldie-trained sprinter, Hawkeyethenoo, will bid to land the coveted Blue Square Stewards’ Cup Handicap at Glorious Goodwood, next week, and bring the prize home to Scotland for the very first time, writes Elliot Slater.

The talented performer is a standing dish in major handicaps in Britain over six and seven furlongs over the last three seasons and invariably puts up a good show even though the handicapper appears to be cutting him little slack.

Goldie’s charge has been raiding the major tracks on the southern side of the Scottish border on a regular basis and he remains a firm favourite with horseracing punters who bet each-way, as he rarely runs a bad race and often sneaks into a place.

The six-year-old’s last win came in the 2011 Victoria Cup at Ascot, where he stormed clear of 27 rivals to beat Manassass by two-and-a-half lengths, and, while he has not managed to get his head in front since, Goldie’s standard-bearer has invariably been ‘on the premises’.

Fourth to Pastoral Player at the end of last term, in another major handicap at Ascot, Hawkeyethenoo began this term on a mark of 104 and, on only his second outing of the campaign, ran a blinder to finish third to Dandy Boy at the royal meeting in the Wokingham Handicap.

Arguably his best ever performance came at Newmarket, earlier this month, when, on unsuitably heavy ground, he stepped up to Group 1 company and ran a brave fifth to Richard Fahey’s Mayson in the July Cup.

Just seven days after that gruelling race stayed on well into a fast-finishing seventh of 27 behind Field of Dream in last weekend’s feature handicap on ‘King George’ day at Ascot.
Reported to have come out of his latest run in fine shape and likely to be suited by the ferocious pace of the Stewards’ Cup, Hawkeyethenoo will appeal to many punters as a solid each-way bet at odds of around 16/1.

Looking ahead to York, the Ebor festival betting website on Betfair has the best odds on the market for British horse racing.