3 minute read
And it will be wet wet wet on Friday
Thursday's races got away without the threatened rain but that won't be the case for Friday.
There were some good news stories out of Thursday's races with one coming in the Norfolk Stakes when Perfect Power won for trainer Richard Fahey and jockey Paul Hanagan. Hanagan had his back broken in three places in a fall and has made an amazing recovery and this win should boost his confidence enormously. It was a very tight finish with Perfect Power a head in front of Go Bears Go 6/1 with the fast finishing Project Dante only a nose further off. Cadamoto was fourth.
The Hampton Court kept the stewards busy as firstly there was a worker on the track and Seamie Heffernan had to swerve to miss him! It probably did not affect the finish but there was an inquiry as the winner Mohaafeth wandered around a bit in front and seriously impeded Roman Empire 14/1 however much to William Haggas's relief the result stood and vindicated his decision to scratch from the Derby. Secret Protector was third on 11/1.
And finally we got a roughie up – Nicest ran third in the Ribblesdale. We hope you managed to get on when she was still 40/1 as she firmed into 28/1. The winner was Loving Dream for the Gosdens with Robert Havelin on board and second was Eshaada on 11/2, Divinely 4th.
Nicest had a tough race but was up in the mix for most of the race and showed she was up for a good fight despite losing a shoe and a few other mishaps along the way.
Can't say we did the same in the Gold Cup – we were strongly in the Stradivarius camp but shall we just say it wasn't Dettori's greatest ride. He claims they got blocked for a run coming in to the straight but he was always too far back in our opinion. Subjectivist on the other hand was always either in the lead or vying for it and when he went clear that was that – another win for a "senior" jockey. Not sure how old Robert Havelin is but he may be around that mark as well. Princess Zoe ran an absolute blinder to finish second on 28/1 and Spanish Mission was third on 7/1.
Friday's form will need to see the wet form before parting with the hard earned and in the Albany G3 for the 2yo fillies over 1200 Flotus won well at Goodwood on the soft in her debut and enthused her connections, the Crisfords and Frankie Dettori so the daughter of Starspangledbanner comes in to this as the 3/1 favourite.
Hello You on 5/1 for Beckett- James Doyle is by Invincible Spirit and won her debut by 6 ½ lengths. Aidan O'Brien's Prettiest is on 6/1 – she's by Dubawi out of Alice Springs so that endears her to us. Ryan Moore rides.
Our roughie here is Sandrine who is by Bobby's Kitten and she also won on debut. Andrew Balding will leg up David Probert here and they are on 18/1 which looks very tempting.
The King Edward VII is for the 3yo c&g over 2400m and has 8 runners, with Alenquer on 2/1 with Tom Marquand in the irons for William Haggas. The son of Adlerflug beat Adayer who then went on to win the Derby so that reads well. The Mediterranean is a Galileo from Aiden O'Brien's yard who has been supplemented for this. Ryan Moore rides and they are on 4/1 and then we like Yibir 7/1 for Appleby-Buick.
The Commonwealth Cup is G1 over 1200m for the 3yo colts and fillies and there are two sort-of raiders on 4/1: Campanelle trained by Wesley Ward with Dettori riding is American but not a stranger as he won the Queen Mary in 2020 and then the Prix Morny. Suesa is a talented filly from the Rohaut stable with William Buick booked to ride the unbeaten lass.
There are 20 runners in this so we have gone very wide in our quest for roughies and the pin landed on 40/1 shot Lipizzaner Aidan O'Brien Ryan Moore (cannot believe the price) and Mighty Gurkha 66/1 for Archie Watson and Hollie Doyle.
The Coronation Stakes is G1 over the 1600m round course for 3yo fillies with 13 entered.
Mother Earth, a Zoffany filly, won the UK Guineas and was second in the French version where the track was very wet. Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore of course and she's on top on 7/2. Her stablemate Empress Josephine is by Galileo and will be ridden by Seamie Heffernan and they are on 6/1 despite her being the Irish 1000 Guineas winner and having beaten Pretty Gorgeous in that race and who is on a quote of 4/1 here. Primo Baccio is trained by Ed Walker and will be ridden by Andrea Atzeni. They were impressive at York and come in to this on 5/1.
There was an interesting analysis of the sectional times of runners in the Prince of Wales which showed how Ryan Moore is a genius at judging races, as he had the fastest first quarter and then stayed on a steady pace for the rest of the race meaning that he had enough horse left to put in a finishing surge.
