The first three past the post in the 2000m Castle Tankard (Gr1) run on 7 May 2022 were the most fancied runners when the final field was declared for the 1800m OK Grand Challenge (Gr1) earlier this week.

True Beauty won the Tankard, and then came Only Him and Holy Land. Winning margins 0.75 and 1.50 Lengths. When betting opened for the OK Grand Challenge, True Beauty and Holy Land were quoted at 5/2, and Only Him was 4/1.

Holy Land may prefer the 1800m trip and there has been a significant turnaround in the weights.  In The Castle Tankard, True Beauty received 3 kgs from Holy Land, while Only Him was receiving 1 kg from the older horse.  On June 4 Holy Land only gives True Beauty half a kilogram, while Only Him will give Holy Land 0.5 kgs.

There is no doubt that the four-year-olds will have to dig deeper to beat Holy Land, but it isn’t all over bar the shouting. The OK field is bristling with possibilities and the Final Field has been published on this site.

(Keep scrolling down for profiles on the 2022 Castle Tankard runners – most of whom are scheduled to run in the OK Grand Challenge.)

Photographs by Jenny Stock.