bet365 Old Newton Cup odds: Relentless Voyager seeks Haydock prize

The bet365 Old Newton Cup is one of Haydock's main attractions on Saturday afternoon and Relentless Voyager for Andrew Balding and Oisin Murphy spearheads a 19-strong field.

The mile-and-a-half Haydock handicap test is the centrepiece of the three-day Old Newton Cup Festival at the Merseyside venue, with the race due off at 15:15 BST on Saturday afternoon.

All the action at Haydock can be followed via bet365's Sports Live Streaming service and here we are looking at some of the main contenders for the bet365 Old Newton Cup.

bet365 Old Newton Cup Odds

(Odds will display when market is available)

Relentless Voyager

This gelded son of Ulysses is an improving four-year-old and won a handicap over this trip at Epsom on Derby Day last month for the Balding/Murphy alliance. He lost very little in defeat when third in a Listed contest at York since and, while rated 7lb higher than at Epsom, he remains low-mileage and is likely to be capable of better still.

La Yakel

William Haggas' charge enjoyed a decent four-race campaign last season, winning at Doncaster (1m2f, soft) during the St Leger Festival and finishing second at Ascot and York in the runs that bookended his season. He is rated 8lb higher than when going close over this trip at Ascot on his comeback last July but clearly an absence isn't a major worry for connections.

Epic Poet

This French import wasn't able to achieve much in three starts for Martyn Meade in 2023, but they all came in hot races – Listed/Group 3 affairs at Newbury and Goodwood and the bet365 Cambridgeshire at Newmarket. He has eased significantly in the ratings and was second in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot last month on his first try at this distance. Back up 3lb for that effort and new trainer David O'Meara is seemingly capable of getting the best from him.

Chillingham

A solid handicapper, he stays a bit further than this and shouldn't mind an end-to-end gallop at this trip. He went close at Ripon (soft) over this trip in April and ran well in a good quality Class 2 event at York's Dante Festival in May on good ground.

Iron Lion

The gelded son of Roaring Lion is a second contender for trainer David O'Meara and has won two of his last four races at Doncaster and over this course and distance. He wasn't able to get a blow in under a patient ride at Ayr over 1m5f last time and has more to find despite being eased 1lb for that run a fortnight ago.

Sheer Rocks

He finished fifth in this contest 12 months ago, beaten only a length-and-a-half, and is now rated 2lb lower. Eve Johnson-Houghton's five-year-old was only mid-division in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot last month, his first start in 349 days.

Maghlaak

Charlie Hills' gelding got up late to win a Goodwood handicap (1m2f, soft) in May on his comeback from 344 days off. He wasn't as good when sent off favourite at Redcar next time but he remains low-mileage in what will be just his fifth handicap start. First-time blinkers are added now and there could be more to come.

Teumessias Fox

The King Power Racing-owned son of Lope De Vega won a Class 2 Newmarket handicap in May 2023 off a mark of 97 and ran in some very warm contests thereafter. An all-weather winner off 99 at Kempton in January, he is returning from a short break now and needs to bounce back from a poor run in the Easter Classic at Newcastle on Good Friday. Trainer Andrew Balding also runs Relentless Voyager

Euchen Glen

A highly popular veteran, he was a 1m6f course winner here in 2020 and showed he's still got plenty of enthusiasm when scoring at Ayr (1m5f, good to firm) on his most recent start off the lowest mark he'd held in seven years. Handicapper has put him back up 4lb for that success and the 11-year-old will do well to defy these younger rivals.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.