Red Cadeaux looking well and Steve even better!
Quite warm and pleasant with a dry day forecast.
We worked a number of two-year-olds on the Limekilns first lot and it was good to get back on the grass following plenty of rain yesterday. They included Opposition, a strapping son of Dalakhani owned by a Highclere syndicate.
Five runners this afternoon including two at York. The draw demons have returned to haunt Oasis Fantasy and it won’t be easy for Frankie to get into a decent position from stall 17. That said, he ran at Goodwood like he wanted two miles, a galloping track with a long home straight will suit, he’s fairly handicapped on the pick of his form and he won’t mind any ease in the ground.
Qeyaadah contests the red-hot nursery which closes the card and it’s a bit of a minefield trying to assess the relative merits of your handicap mark against a field full of improvers. We think a strongly-run six furlongs will suit our horse and he arrives on the back of a solid effort in novice company at Haydock.
At Ffos Las, Rock ‘n Red – a Fastnet Rock first foal out of the Listed-placed Red Fantasy – makes her debut in the seven furlong maiden auction. This looks a penalty kick for Sharja Queen, however it’s a sensible place to start our filly off.
Biff Johnson has to bounce back from a disappointing run at Carlisle in the mile and a quarter maiden, but he stumbled at the foot of the hill on that occasion and Paul Mulrennan did the right thing on him afterwards. His Ayr second, albeit in a falsely-run race, is pretty solid form in the context of this race and he doesn’t look out of place.
Lastly, Blushes – a filly from the second crop of Siyouni who is a half-sister to five winners – makes her debut at Kempton, but she has to concede experience to plenty and is drawn wide.
Three declarations for Friday with Trip To Paris and Times Up heading to the Lonsdale Cup. Graham Lee maintains the ride on TTP, who will wear cheekpieces, and Phil Makin rides Times Up. Michael’s Mount, an unraced two-year-old by Mount Nelson, will make his debut at Sandown.
A handful of entries for Tuesday including Rock Lobster at Brighton, as we might consider turning him out under a penalty.
Finally, I hope the weather doesn’t take too much attention away from the action on course today. Of course we would all love Gleneagles to run in the Juddmonte, but if the ground is deemed too soft so be it – you couldn’t blame Aidan or the Coolmore team for not running as they have minded him beautifully so far – and we are still set to see the Derby winner in a fascinating contest. Enjoy.
Back tomorrow.
Ed.