Starlust Returns in Carlisle Achilles Stakes — Horse Racing Today

Horse racing today turns to Carlisle, where Starlust returns in the listed Achilles Stakes at 14:33 after almost a year away. The 2024 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner managed only two runs last season and last appeared when finishing fourth in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Carlisle Takes Haydock's Place

Haydock’s card was abandoned, and Carlisle has inherited some of the weekend’s best races. That has put the focus on a track that now carries the key Saturday action, with Starlust back on view and several other runners drawn into competitive races rather than the day’s usual quieter fare.

Redorange is the main danger in the Achilles Stakes. Clive Cox’s sprinter looked sharp on reappearance at York even though things did not go right for him, then won at Windsor just four days later when all the rage in the betting. He beat Regal Envoy by a length and three quarters there and had already finished second in listed company at Deauville last summer.

Estrange At Carlisle Again

Estrange returns in the Lester Piggott Fillies’ Stakes at Carlisle, the same race she won twelve months ago at Haydock. After that successful reappearance last year, she went on to win the Lancashire Oaks, then ran two fine races in Group 1 company by chasing home Minnie Hauk in the Yorkshire Oaks and racing Kalpana in the Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot.

She is 4 lb clear in the Timeform ratings, which makes her one of the strongest numbers on the card. For punters looking beyond the headline sprint, that leaves a proven filly returning to familiar territory with recent top-level form behind her.

Princling In The Silver Bowl

The Silver Bowl Handicap at 15:45 brings 16 three-year-olds together over just short of a mile, and Princling is the one with the most obvious upward curve. William Haggas’ runner makes his handicap debut from a BHA mark of 87 after finishing second in both two-year-old starts and winning a novice at Wetherby last month.

Princling heads the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings and also has the Horse In Focus flag. Clive Cox fields Blue Courvoisier and Langstone in the same race, with Langstone taking his first handicap run after winning both novices this spring, so Carlisle’s card offers form, upside and a few hard questions in the same afternoon.