IT IS a busy Saturday of flat racing across the UK and Ireland with the Irish 2,000 Guineas plus two other group races, a pair of Listed races and a couple of Premier Handicaps for good measure at the Curragh and top-class racing also at Goodwood, York and Haydock Park. Some good horses will also have their final warm-ups before Royal Ascot.

Gstaad will try to go one better than when second to Bow Echo in the Newmarket 2,000 Guineas in the Irish Classic and will renew rivalry with Distant Storm (3rd), Undersecretary (5th) and Power Blue (7th). 

Of that quartet the third-named could well come out on top as he pulled way too hard through the first half of the race at Headquarters, but only succumbed inside the distance. With the freshness having been taken out of him I suspect he could well be the biggest danger to the massive outsider GO JUST DO IT (3.40).

The Joseph O’Brien-trained charge only won a Gowran Park maiden over seven furlongs last time out, but the manner of his victory was hugely emphatic and being by Kingman out of a Lope De Vega mare he looks sure to relish the extra yardage here off a fast pace. Of the other entries, the British raider Alparslan should also make his presence felt at the sharp end if Sam James can break quickly on him and get into an early rhythm.

Of the other group races on the card I have a very strong fancy in the form of COMMANCHE BRAVE (3.05) in the Greenlands Stakes. At mammoth odds of 355/1, the Irish raider was far from disgraced in being beaten some six lengths by the best sprinter in the world, Ka Ying Rising in the Group One Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin last month and this is a much easier assignment as long as the son of Wootton Bassett doesn’t give himself too much to do from the quarter-mile marker.

Of the big field handicaps on the card, there are several each-way plays at double-figure odds which interest me. None more so than BISHOPTON (5.25) who could hugely outrun his double-figure price. The bay gelding put up a career best last time out on the sand at Dundalk when tenaciously holding off Venetian by half a length under the young 5lbs claimer Paddy Harnett and senior jockey Wayne Lordan takes over in the saddle this afternoon.

The best bet on the card though could come in the form of CAUSEWAY (4.15) in the Group Three Gallinule Stakes over a mile-and-a-quarter. The Aidan O’Brien charge always looked as though he would improve a bundle in his second season and following a win off 94 in a handicap at Naas, he followed up in brilliant style in the Listed Tetrarch Stakes here over a mile. 

Everything about his breeding suggests that the further he goes the better he will become, and if successful here, a shot at either the Coral Eclipse or even the Irish Derby could be very much on the cards. He looks a hugely exciting prospect that is improving at a rapid rate of knots and I shall be massively disappointed if he cannot see off the likes of Zia Zabel and Shaihaan.

Back on home territory it is all about sorting the wheat from the chaff and my main bet will come in the form of LANGSTONE (Haydock Park, 2.20) in the William Hill Silver Bowl Handicap over a mile for three-year-olds.

Sure, the William Haggis-trained Princling will prove very hard to beat off a mark of just 87, but the selection should give him plenty to think about following wins in novice events at Doncaster and Kempton Park this term.

The last-named came when giving weight away all round and with a decisive victory after racing prominently all the way and this extra furlong and deeper ground (he is by soft ground sire Mayson) suggests that there should be plenty more left in the tank for this upwardly mobile grey gelding.

Also at the Merseyside track, FIVE WAYS (2.58) may well relish this slower surface in the Group Two William Hill Sandy Lane Stakes and anything in the region of a double-figure price looks well worth investing in with several of his rivals having question marks on this much softer ground.

The in-form handicapper Jakajaro tries his hand in Group Two company in the Temple Stakes, but this more testing ground represents a different set-up for him whereas last year’s winner MGHEERA (3.30) looks sure to relish the conditions. The mare looked in need of her run on her comeback following five months on the sidelines when sixth of nine in the Prix Saint-Georges at Longchamp and that outing should have put her straight in the defence of her title today.

The William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap (4.05) looks wide open despite the slightly disappointing turnout of just 12 runners. The race affords a cracking chance to HERMETIC to open his UK account at the second time of asking. This son of Sea The Stars twice won on very soft ground in France and ran a very promising fourth of 17 at York behind Master Builder over a mile-and-a-half. That run should have put the selection straight and the extra yardage will hugely benefit this very lightly raced four-year-old.

Old RHOSCOLYN (5.15) will adore being back on a soft surface in what looks a very deep mile, class-three handicap. He is set to race off a very winnable mark of just 93 and will be a massive player if getting the breaks down the long home run.

The best bet at York could be SQUEALER (2.40) following a fair ninth in a very similar race over the course and distance three weeks ago. The six-year-old is set to race off a 3lbs lower mark and gets the nod over the likes of veteran speedster Vintage Clarets and the evergreen Legal Nymph. 

At Goodwood, have a second glance at both CATULLUS (1.25) following a wind operation and being gelded and ONEFORTHEGUTTER (4.20). The last named will love this return to the intermediate trip and a mark of 90 looks a much more favourable set-up for the seven-year-old.