Horse Racing Tips: Scarlet Legend set to go one better

Flat racing holds sway across the UK and Ireland on Thursday with five of the six meetings taking place on the level, the exception being the jumps offering from Limerick.

On top of this, there is top-class French action from Longchamp, with the Prix Aga Khan taking place headlined by Daryz. Amongst our Thursday fancies is one for trainer Andrew Balding who made a promising debut and is capable of going even better.

14:30 Haydock - Scarlet Legend @ 1/2

The Andrew Balding-trained Scarlet Legend made an encouraging start to his career when finishing a close second on debut in a Salisbury maiden earlier this month.

A son of Nathaniel, the three-year-old shaped with plenty of promise over 1m4f, keeping on well to be beaten only a short head by Ranga Tang despite showing signs of inexperience.

Rob Hornby keeps the ride at Haydock and, with natural progression expected from that debut effort, the colt looks capable of taking another step forward on his second career start.

15:30 Haydock - Lion Of Mali @ 9/4

The James Fanshawe-trained Lion Of Mali has shown plenty of progression throughout his three-year-old campaign already and arrives at Haydock seeking a fourth win from his last five starts.

He has thrived since switching to handicaps, building an excellent record over 7f, and he proved last time at Leicester that his strong all-weather form could be transferred successfully onto turf.

That latest success came on fast ground where he travelled strongly before asserting late on to score by half a length.

Prior to that, Lion Of Mali had won twice on artificial surfaces at Wolverhampton and Kempton, and another bold showing looks likely from the in-form three-year-old.

17:13 Haydock - Brummell  @ 9/2

Five-year-old Brummell has developed into a prolific sprinter for Julie Camacho, recording five wins from 13 starts over the minimum trip of 5f, and he returns to Haydock from just 1lb higher than his last winning mark.

The gelded son of Dandy Man enjoyed an excellent spell last season, winning handicaps at Beverley, Pontefract and Hamilton, while regularly proving competitive in higher grades.

His form tailed off in his final two starts of 2025, but he subsequently underwent wind surgery and shaped with encouragement on his reappearance when third over 6f at Doncaster earlier this month.

That run should have sharpened him up nicely and the drop back to 5f looks a positive given his strong record at the trip.

Brummell should be ready to take another step forward on his second outing since his wind operation.

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