Newmarket, England: The four runners with North American form probably have the Dubai Golden Shaheen between them.

Secret Circle, Salutos Amigos, Rich Tapestry — who represents Hong Kong but ran his best race to date in California last year — and Big Macher are all tough and battle-hardened dirt track sprinters.

I am going for recent form and Salutos Amigos is my pick. He won impressively at Aqueduct three weeks ago, taking his fourth straight win and his ninth overall, and has solid form in top company.

Trained by the shrewd David Jacobsen, Salutos Amigos won the Tom Fool Handicap with a strong performance. He had missed some training and was burdened with top weight, but comfortably made his way to the winners’ circle, beating Dads Caps by four lengths.

Jockey Cornelius Velasquez never had to resort to the whip to get his mount into top gear. All of his four recent wins have come at Aqueduct, though a win in the Bold Ruler at Belmont and a fine race in defeat in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita prove his versatility.

He was seventh, beaten by just three lengths, to Work All Week at the Breeders’ Cup, when Secret Circle was second. Salutos Amigos has been dominant against mainly the same rivals in the Big Apple and, make no mistake about it, this is a strong and very genuine performer.

Secret Circle, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 2013, when he ran to Globeform 122, is also an obvious contender, despite having been a bit below form on his most recent start in the US. That was not so recent though and he has had a break so comes here fresh.

Rich Tapestry produced a sprint performance as good as any in America last year when beating top-class miler Goldencents to win the Santa Anita Sprint Championship, but ran as if something was amiss when unsighted at the Breeders’ Cup. He was second to Sterling City in the last Golden Shaheen staged on Tapeta and is an adaptable horse.

Big Macher is the fourth name mention. He was ninth in the 2014BC Sprint, having won two important races over the Polytrack surface at Del Mar.

Montiridge is the dark horse. He beat rivals finding the trip too short when bolting up over 1,400 metres in Saudi Arabia in January, but sure looked good on the day.

— The author is the editor of Newmarket-based independent racing and handicapping publication globeform.co.uk