3 minute read
‘I don’t know where we’ll go, but I won’t miss a good entry’.
Baaeed maintained his unbeaten record with a thoroughly impressive display in the Edmondson Hall Solicitors Sir Henry Cecil Stakes at Newmarket.
A full-brother to the high-class middle-distance performer Hukum , the William Haggas-trained three-year-old looked an exciting prospect when making a winning debut at Leicester – and confirmed that impression with a dominant display over this course and distance last month.
The Sea The Stars colt faced a far from straightforward task stepping up to Listed class, with St James's Palace Stakes fourth Maximal and one-time Classic hope One Ruler among his four rivals, but he swept them aside with relative ease.
Always travelling well in the hands of Jim Crowley, the heavily-backed 10-11 favourite cruised into contention before readily extending four lengths clear, with Maximal a clear second ahead of One Ruler in third.
"He's looking talented," said Haggas.
"He's got speed, and his brother is a mile-and-a-halfer, so he's an exciting horse.
"His pedigree says he could step up to a mile and a quarter, but his style of racing doesn't really say that. We'll see, (but) I don't think there's any hurry to step him up in trip.
"I thought it was a really good Listed contest today, so to do that – come from the back and show a nice turn of foot – is a good sign."
The Newmarket handler was non-committal regarding future plans, but a further step up in class seems certain.
Haggas added: "He's had three quite quick races, so we'll see.
"I don't know where we'll go, but I won't miss a good entry."
Blackrod (11-1) claimed top honours in the £75,000 Each Way Extra At bet365 Handicap for Michael Dods and Silvestre de Sousa.
The three-year-old had suggested a valuable handicap could be within his compass when runner-up in a similarly competitive affair at York last month – and finished with a flourish under his Brazilian rider to get up and beat Apollo One by a neck.
Dods said: "We always thought he was a good horse, and he ran a good race at York last time. He had a nice weight on his back today (8st 4lb), and I thought Silvestre gave him a great ride.
"It's strange, because he's by Mayson and they usually want a bit of cut, but he seems to prefer faster ground.
"Hopefully there's a lot to look forward to with him because he's still raw – he's a fair horse."
The impeccably-bred Frankella made it third time lucky in the British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Fillies' Stakes.
A daughter of Frankel, Andrew Balding's juvenile is out of owner-breeder Jeff Smith's top-class racemare Arabian Queen, who memorably inflicted a shock defeat on Derby hero Golden Horn in the 2015 Juddmonte International at York.
Frankella had not made much of an impact on her first two starts at Salisbury in June, but came good at 20-1 under Oisin Murphy – digging deep once challenged to prevail by half a length from Princess Shabnam, with 2-1 favourite Lovely Mana back in third.
Murphy said: "She has a really good pedigree, and it's a great result for the family.
"She improved – dropping back to six furlongs on better ground. Hopefully she'll build on this."
Having earlier combined to land the Bahrain Trophy with Yibir, Charlie Appleby and James Doyle doubled up with Path Of Thunder in the concluding John Deere Handicap.
The application of blinkers for the first time appeared to have the desired effect, as the 9-4 favourite improved from recent placed efforts for a three-length verdict.
Appleby said: "He's a consistent little horse, to be fair. We've put some headgear on him – he's travelled well and went to the line quite strongly in the end.
"He's always been a Dubai-type horse, so whether we give him another run here first or pack him up for Dubai – we'll review that next week.
"He's off that sort of mark where he should fit the bill for out there."
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