We are only part way through the first week back in racing and already we have reached the first classic! The 2000 Guineas has the most anticipated runner probably since Frankel in Pinatubo and although he‘ll probably win he is absolutely no value whatsoever. So why not look a little further down the lists? One who caught our eye is also from Godolphin, Military March. He beat Al Suhail over course and distance last season and should be a nice ride for young Hector Crouch. He will definitely stay the distance and it may be that the Derby will be his long term target But at 14-1 he has to have an each-way chance. One who we will be rooting for is Starcat from Hughie Morrison’s stable, a flashy chestnut, has already won well over the distance at Kempton back in December and the Dam Purr Along (who we highlighted to a potential owner as a yearling) won a Group 3 over 1m.
On Friday (tomorrow) there are a handful of runners we are interested in as we highlighted them to owner as yearlings, the first, King Carney, runs in the Lingfield Derby Trial. He won 2 races on soft ground over a mile at the end of his 2yo season and we believe he will stay the Derby distance. He also holds an entry in the Irish Derby.
The next both run in the listed Paradise Stakes over 1m at Newmarket. Bless Him trained by David Simcock, won a couple of races at the backend of last year including a class 2 handicap at Ascot. The other is Oh This Is Us, a very good yardstick for Richard Hannon over the years, although his listed wins have come over 7f, he has run in Group 1 company and maybe each-way value at 12-1.
Back to Saturday and the Sagaro Stakes, usually run at Ascot but this year run and Newcastle, has a high class feel about it, with last years St Leger 3rd Nayef Road up against some useful opponents like Godolphin’s Ispolini, Mildenburger from the Mark Johnston stable and globetrotting Prince of Arran. If Nayef Road has trained on sufficiently, we hope he might run a big race.
At Newmarket on Saturday, as well as the 2000 Guineas, there is the listed Newmarket Stakes over 10f, which sees the all-conquering Gosden-Dettori combination with Waldkonig (a half brother to Arc winner Waldgeist) taking on Al Aasy from the William Haggas yard. Al Aasy has been heavily backed for the Derby and it will be interesting to see how he goes on what may be good to soft ground.
We also have an eye on the 2yo races over the weekend especially after Pelekai’s excellent win at Newcastle this week. Captain Magnum is running at Newcastle on Saturday (we were underbidders for the dam at the Mares sale) and Undertake runs at Lingfield later in the day (again we highlighted the dam as a yearling to prospective owners).
A good start to the season with Pelekai and Oakenshield both winning from our first blog, hopefully this continues!
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