IMPRESSIONIST LOOKS A CLASS ACT

Paul Ferguson likes the look of a William Haggas hope in the Northumberland Plate

- Paul Ferguson

The month of July gets underway with a busy weekend and the pick of the domestic action on Saturday 1st comes from Newcastle, with the north-east venue staging the valuable Northumberland Plate. At this early stage, it is difficult to be sure who will turn up, but one who would warrant consideration if travelling north would be Post Impressionist, who also holds an entry at Royal Ascot whilst this feature goes to print.

William Haggas’ four-year-old was sent off favourite for the King George V Stakes at last year’s Royal meeting and proved quite costly to follow on his next three starts, before ending his three-year-old campaign with a taking victory at York over 1m6f. After just eight career starts, he remains open to further progress this summer and shapes as though he could improve for stepping up to this 2m trip. He ran once at Newcastle last year, when runner-up to subsequent Queen’s Vase and St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov, in what turned out to be a hot novice contest, so we know that he handles the surface. Winning on reappearance is not an easy thing to do in a race of this nature, but Haggas is a past-master with improving handicappers and it would come as no surprise if he were to land a big prize in the coming weeks/months.

Also trained in Newmarket, Postileo is another for any shortlist, following his winning return at Hamilton during May. Although he only won by 1 length, Roger Varian’s six-year-old was value for a bit more, as he suffered trouble in running before finishing strongly once seeing daylight. Only upped 3lbs as a result, he too looks capable of running well and should also improve for stepping back up in distance.