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Henry Candy’s Limato seemed a horse who captured the imagination of several Racing Forum followers last year.
He put up some nice performances and looks a horse with a very promising future.
As a gelding he can’t run in the Classics but sprinting might be his game anyway and the new 3yo sprint at Royal Ascot is said to be his main early season target.
The race is called The Commonwealth Cup and Racebets have offered odds on Limato winning the event. He is the only contender quoted in the list and the odds on offer are 5/1.
I think you would be struggling to compile a big list of contenders for the race. There will be plenty sprint types coming through as three year olds but not that many who will be group contenders. There is always the chance of Guineas horses who didn’t get the mile dropping back but I haven’t seen that many who have done that in previous seasons. The Wow Signal would be one such contender in my opinion. Hugo Palmer’s Home Of The Brave is another horse who I have seen mooted as a good sprinter this year but his current rating of 102 leaves him a bit behind Limato on 115. Richard Hannon’s filly Tiggy Wiggy would seem the most obvious alternative to Limato but she is supposed to be starting off in the 1000 Guineas and you wonder if failure at that trip might sour her for the drop to sprinting. It is a different discipline trying to get a horse to conserve energy for a Guineas attempt and then reverting to all out speed.
All in all, I would say 5/1 is fair enough in the circumstances for Limato, who is sure to be popular and only one win from being potentially pretty short for this new Royal Ascot contest.
Limato Commonwealth Cup Royal Ascot 5/1 Racebets
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Henry Candy has nominated the Pavilion Stakes on 29th April at Ascot as Limato’s intended seasonal debut. He has said the horse is ticking along nicely and he hopes the gelding will prove good enough to take his chance at Royal Ascot.
Paddy Power are offering odds on this race and their more comprehensive list consists of two runners. They go 5/1 the aforementioned alternative Tiggy Wiggy, and 6/1 Limato.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
I’m with you all the way Steve – love Limato and think he has so much more scope to improve than Tiggy Wiggy. Limato was a scrawny little husk of a gelding last year while Tiggy Wiggy was an extremely burly unit for a juvenile filly. With a little extra strength and maturity, Limato could hit some very high levels.
I have taken some of that 5/1 but had a greedy thought that he might get pushed out a couple of points if he gets turned-over on his seasonal return. There is no chance of him going to stud, so Candy doesn’t have to worry about preserving an unbeaten record or any of that nonsense – he can manage Limato to peak for his big targets like gelding icon Sole Power does. I think there’s a big chance that Candy will run the horse at 85% in the Pavillion Stakes willing to take a defeat en route to the Group 1.
As expected Limato is intended to run in the Pavilion Stakes at Ascot on Wednesday.
There is quite a good entry at the moment with 17 in the list.
Limato is top rated on 115 with Tim Easterby’s Rockingham and Criterium De MI winner Mattmu the next highest rated on 111.
Limato beat Mattmu when he won the 2yo Trophy at Redcar and he has also defeated another entry Hawkesbury, when they met at Kempton.
Mattmu and Richard Hannon’s Beacon will both have to concede 5 lbs to Limato because they are group 2 winners and that is going to be a tough task against the less exposed and unbeaten Henry Candy trained gelding.
I expect Limato will be a warm order here and a win in style should see his odds sliced for the Commonwealth Cup, where Hootenanny will be a popular alternative and Tiggy Wiggy may be arriving after an aborted Guineas bid.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Mattmu is out of the Pavilion Stakes but 13 are left in. The price guide has Limato at 9/4, with Beacon next at 6/1.
Will see what the real prices are saying when they become available.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
I’ll be there on Wednesday, Steve, so I’ll try to get a few snaps of our boy. Anyone else going? Drop me a PM – it would be nice to say hi.
Henry Candy is hardly spewing confidence about Limato right now, but let’s hope he’s just being cautious.
I’ll be there on Wednesday, Steve, so I’ll try to get a few snaps of our boy. Anyone else going? Drop me a PM – it would be nice to say hi.
Henry Candy is hardly spewing confidence about Limato right now, but let’s hope he’s just being cautious.
Cheers Young Fella, it’s far too far for me to travel down but hope you have a great day.
The Henry Candy team aren’t in great form yet and Music Master was a warm favourite for them when beaten by Astaire recently.
I reckon Limato needs to win this to stay one of the favourites for Royal Ascot and I’m looking forward to see him and hope he looks as good as he did last season.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Was good….
Candy wasn’t very bullish in the paper saying the horse had been lazy in his work.
Canford Cliffs had the same sire (Tagula) and he was a law unto himself in his late two year old and early 3 year old season in his homework.
The Gosden horse that was runner up was well supported in the market as if to indicate he was ready to go so Limato done well as he was inconvenienced being drawn where he was and he was taken wider by the horse he followed into the race when looming up.Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
You can’t really ask for more than that first time out and it certainly shows the horse has trained on.
Like you say Nathan I think they like the second at JHG’sPretty happy with that effort and the 6/1 is gone for the Commonwealth Cup. Best price at the moment is 3/1.
I was a bit apprehensive when I saw how wide Limato was racing and Henry Candy could scarcely have been any more lukewarm regarding the horse’s well being with phrases such as “He’s OK…BUT, he’s been working reasonably BUT, I’m quite happy with him BUT” being the watchword before the race.
Tendu was quite weak in the betting this morning but on course was very popular. Gosden’s not exactly the king of the sprinters but this filly looks OK and Waady, who won over 5f last weekend looks quite a sharp sort.
I had to have a laugh at the Tipster on the Sporting Life website who wanted to take Limato on today. Already admitting that he’d missed the prices and therefore had to switch his bet from each-way to win, he tipped Strathburn. Nothing at all wrong with that but his observation that Charlie Hills was in pretty good nick form wise raised my eyebrows. A quick check revealed that the stable was winner-less since Muhaarar won the Greenham 11 days ago and they were 3/49 for the month, a 6% strike rate.
Not what I would call in form, but each to their own.
Henry Candy said Limato was very rusty and that he hadn’t been able to get him fit at home. They may give him another race before Royal Ascot but are keeping an open mind.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Excellent stuff from Limato. He looked fairly fit without being particularly well-toned up in the paddock, where he was just about the best-behaved horse on show. There weren’t many imposing specimens in the line-up, with Hawkesbury dwarfing the rest, but Limato still looks like a very weedy individual. Obviously it doesn’t stop him though!
Runner-up Tendu was carrying obvious condition, likewise Growl. The good thing for the future is that the first three pulled well away from the horses who did so well in the All Weather Sprint Final and had lots of race fitness on their side.
My camerawork is as bad as my tipping, but here’s a snap of Limato:
Thanks for the photo Young Fella.
I wasn’t sure how much Limato was going to find in the closing stages today but the answer was “plenty”
The Gosden filly looks to have scope about her and I thought she did well from out the back, coming through to throw down the most serious challenge. It looked to me that 7f might suit her quite well.
If anyone missed the race today the closing stages can be seen here:-
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Hannon has strongly suggested it’s back to sprinting and this race in mind for Tiggy Wiggy.
Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Mattmu was only beaten a head in the Group 2 sprint at York today and that was a nice compliment to Limato, who beat him on the bridle in the 2yo Trophy at Redcar, giving him 9 lbs into the bargain.
Tendu runs at York tomorrow and is favourite but I am not sure this 5f trip at this track will suit her ideally. She did all her best work in the closing stages behind Limato last time and it could be the case that she’ll have a bit to do if ridden in the same style at the shorter trip at a track like York.
Interesting to see how she performs.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
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