Haydock Sprint Cup: Time to top up this half-full glass

Just ten days until the next big Group 1 sprint of the European flat racing season, the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock.

The recent news that top French sprinter Lazzat will likely come here has seen his price tumble and the prices of most other horses lengthen accordingly. But having lost four of his last six starts he hardly gives off an air of invincibility, and we are happy to play against in a market he shapes so heavily.

The one horse whose price The AntePoster cannot fathom is that of Richard Hughes' filly No Half Measures, who has drifted to 12/1 with William Hill and 888. This daughter of Cable Bay only made her debut last year as a three-year-old, but made relentless progress throughout the season, picking up a listed win and a Group 3 win, before finishing a close 5th in the Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp from a very bad draw (indeed, she was the only double-figure draw to run a respectable race). With her trainer keen to avoid rattling fast ground, she has had only three runs this season, but those performances once again reveal a pattern of consistent improvement after a poor start:

• ninth of 11 in the G3 Palace House at Newmarket on her seasonal return in May, carrying a 3lb penalty. This was a rare below-par performance on ground that appears to have been even faster than advertised ("trainer's rep said filly was unsuited by the going on this occasion, officially described as good, good to firm in places, and would prefer a slower surface");

  
  

• half-length second of 8 to Balmoral Lady in the listed Achilles Stakes at Haydock on good ground, where she emerges as clearly the best horse in the race under her 5lb penalty;

  
  

• winner of the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket.

Perhaps, given the price at which she carried off the July Cup (66/1), the market believes this most recent performance was something of a fluke. We'd be doubtful on that score. No longer carrying a penalty for the first time this season, and given ground that we know now had no firm in it at all (despite the official ground description of good to firm, this appears to have been a clear case of over-watering), No Half Measures was able to continue her extraordinary trajectory of improvement which has characterized both the last two seasons. She is now quite clearly a very high-class racehorse, handled by a trainer who in our view remains seriously underrated.

Indeed, with only three runs under her belt this season, we think it is quite possible that she can take another step forward given her almost uninterrupted trajectory of improvement over the last 18 months. And in our view, 12/1 is very much the right price to find out whether that's the case for this Group 1 winner, including with the each-way angle (place price works out at almost 5/2).

The stable confirmed to The AntePoster just before publication that No Half Measures is firmly on track for Haydock. Injury aside, therefore, the main antepost risk to this play is unsuitably fast ground, but with rain of some description in the forecast for Haydock every day for the next ten days that looks most unlikely.

Recommendation: Back No Half Measures each-way at 12/1 with William Hill or 888 (general 10/1 also acceptable as minimum) to win the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on 6 September.