All eyes on Kurakka at Haydock tomorrow night

May 29

Primitivo was completing a four-timer and winning off a mark of 95 when he provided Alan with his first Royal Ascot success in the King George V Handicap in 2016.

Consequently, both Kurakka and Daiquiri Bay might struggle to get into that prestigious handicap next month, even if they are entered, as at the time of writing they are on 82 and 87 respectively.

However, this pair are on my list of Horses to Follow from Barbury this summer, and I have told the missus that I will have to briefly break into her Gardners World viewing at 8,25 tomorrow night to see how Kurakka fares on what will be his fourth race but his first on turf in the Haydock finale.

Kurakka had shown plenty of promise in two one mile races on the polytrack at Kempton before Christmas, but stepping up to 10 furlongs for a novice at Chelmsford on May Day suited him ideally, and he made short work of a couple of highly-rated colts from Godolphin and the Gosden yards, suggesting that he could develop into a useful middle-distance handicapper.

He now tackles a mile and a half, but his half-brother Fox Vardy won over that trip at Newmarket’s July meeting so the extra distance ought not be a problem for Kurakka, who cost 110,000gns at last year’s Breeze-Up Sale at the Craven meeting.