Newmarket trainer James Fanshawe is a patient man and he has resisted the temptation to run his stable star KIND OF BLUE since he turned in a disappointing run at Royal Ascot on ground much faster than ideal in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. He finished 11th of the 18 runners that day.

With the sun shining incessantly for most of the summer, Kind of Blue’s target ever since has been the Grade 1 Betfair Sprint Cup Stakes on 5 September in the hope that the rain would finally arrive. The five-year-old has been second for the past two years.

According to my weather forecasts, there is plenty of rain around for the next eight days in the Haydock area and I hope the ground will be properly soft by the off. That would make Kind of Blue a stand-out bet at his current odds of 25-1.

Kind of Blue, who is owned by Wathnan Racing, has only experienced ‘soft’ ground once during his 12-race career and on that occasion he landed the Grade 1 Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes in October 2024.

There is plenty of rain around for the next eight days in the Haydock area

There is plenty of rain around for the next eight days in the Haydock area

Fanshawe, a talented handler whose string always have an impressive strike rate, reports Kind of Blue to be in fine form and he is convinced the horse is as good today as he has ever been. Back him 1 point each way at 25-1 with bet365 or Coral, both paying three places.

Another talented Newmarket trainer waiting for rain for one of his string is James Tate, who rates CABURN highly when he gets soft ground. Ayr’s big meeting is still three weeks off but it is not unusual for it to be run on soft ground. If that’s the case, Caburn will not be going off at his current huge prices for the Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup on 19........

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