Masaalek heads Mile market
Masaalek heads the market at 10-1 with the sponsors for the £150,000 totesport Mile at Glorious Goodwood on August 1.
Trainer Marcus Tregoning is targeting the heritage handicap, for which the Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned colt has been allotted 8st 7lb, before pitching him into Pattern company.
“The totesport Mile is on the radar for Masaalek and he has got a very attractive weight,” said Tregoning.
“He was quite a late foal, being born in the middle of May, and he is surely going to improve this year. He’s getting stronger with every race.”
Masaalek has run well in defeat on his last two starts, being runner-up in the Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot and then third against his elders in the toteswinger Handicap at Sandown last weekend.
“Obviously, it would have been nice to win on Saturday but I don’t think the race was run to suit him,” the Lambourn-based handler went on.
“He’s come out of that race in great shape and everything is geared towards Goodwood now.
“He was entered in a conditions race at Newmarket on Thursday but we decided the race would come too soon and we will wait a bit before running him.
“He could also run in the Listed Blue Square Premier Stakes on the Saturday, but the way the programme is, the prize money on offer for the heritage handicaps is so attractive that it makes good sense to try out luck in the totesport Mile before we run him in Listed or Group races.”
The totesport Mile has attracted 82 entries with the weights topped by the Luca Cumani-trained Bankable.
totesport Mile, sponsors bet: 10-1 Masaalek, 12-1 Artimino, Bankable, Caravel, Gold Sovereign, 14-1 Fifteen Love, Military Cross, Yaddree, Zaahid, 16-1 Axiom, Dear Maurice, Docofthebay, Dubai’s Touch, Flawed Genius, Kavachi, Lang Shining, Master Of Arts, Mukhber, Scuffle, Swop, Wasan, 20-1 bar.
