Red Spells Danger won the 3:20 Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Sprint at Ascot at 2/1 joint-favourite, Saffie Osborne striking for GB&I — and beating the other joint-favourite, Thunder Call, who was this morning’s 15/8 site pick. Right price bracket, wrong horse: the story of a punter’s Saturday.
| Pos | Horse | Jockey | SP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Red Spells Danger | Saffie Osborne | 2/1 JF |
| 2nd | Thunder Call | Jerry Chau | 2/1 JF |
| 3rd | May Angel | C P Lemaire | 5/1 |
The Race Story
Tim Easterby’s sprinter made the stiff six furlongs feel routine, scoring by a length and a half in 1m 12.24s from the eight rivals left after American Gulf was withdrawn. Thunder Call, the Haggas runner the preview liked for his high draw and this exact test, was ridden towards the rear, made eye-catching late headway and grabbed second inside the final 110 yards — travelling faster than anything at the line, arriving too late to matter. May Angel took third for Christophe Lemaire at 5/1. Osborne’s win follows Ryan Moore’s in the Challenge: two on the spin for the home team after Hong Kong’s early double.
Tipster Accountability
Another near-miss for the Ascot preview: Thunder Call ran his race and found one too fast, minutes after the preview’s value pick Asgard’s Captain HAD landed the Challenge at 6/1 while its NAP Night Breeze flopped. Templegate’s already-wounded Saturday book, and Kealy’s four Ascot picks, get their formal reckoning in Sunday’s ledger review.
Looking Ahead
Two races left in the team contest: the 3:55 Classic, where the preview takes Archers Bay (5/2 this morning) now Moore climbs aboard, and the 4:30 Mile, where Fondo Blanco (14/1 each-way, first-time tongue-tie) tries to make the finale interesting. The jockeys’ silverware is still anyone’s.
