The blue skies finally returned this morning here at HQ but the clouds are slowly forming again. The ground here looked hard work last night and whilst it will dry out a little, it is likely to be quite holding once more. The weather looks very changeable at Goodwood but the meeting could start on good to soft ground there.
They went through the soft ground at Ascot yesterday but Aiden O’Brien will be concerned that Highland Reel will not handle it in the King George. He was second in a French Derby on a softish surface but his recent runs on soft ground have led to him underperforming. The presence of Enable was a surprise for some but with the age and sex allowances in her favour and the victory of Taghrooda still fresh in her Trainer’s mind, it was probably not a hard call to make to head to Ascot when connections saw how well she had come out of the Irish Oaks. It will be a surprise if she does not handle the ground and given how well she stayed in the Oaks she should enjoy the track.
Jack Hobbs returns to the ground he needs these days, Idaho comes into the race on a high after his Royal Ascot win, Ulysses heads here from his Eclipse win and he will surely travel well and be produced as late as possible. Benbatl won the Hampton Court and we have the Group 1 winning My Dream Boat who will love the ground as well as the South American contender Sixties Song. It is a mouth watering race and if Enable wins today then she will be perceived as a very special filly.
Global Art was green first time as I suspected he might be in the 6f Novice at Ascot. He was slow out of the stalls but he finished his race off well and he has a future. Mulzim travelled well at Thirsk but the trip looked to stretch him in the ground and we may drop him back to 6f. Oud Metha Bridge showed a little more at Newmarket in the opening handicap, we may step him up in trip next time. Global Wealth was slowly away and had to challenge very wide which is not ideal, I would hope he is better than what he showed last night.
We have two runners today. Dark Red drops in class at Newmarket in the 2:50 but it is still a competitive handicap. I would hope there is still a little ease in the ground at Newmarket which will help him and that will suit him more than at York last time where the rain before racing never really got into the ground. Anythingtoday remains unexposed and has run well the last twice and St Malo is still low mileage too. An old foe of ours Pacify has dropped to a nice mark recently and showed signs of a revival last time, he cannot be discounted.
Sparte Quercus has headed to Chester to run in the 4:55 staying handicap there. He stayed well last time and won despite the ground being a little lively that day. This easier surface should suit and he has a jockey who rides Chester well onboard. He travels well in his races which should make him suited to Chester but we would have liked to have been drawn lower than stall ten ideally. Kajaki ran into a progressive young stayer last time and Aairton looks to be as trong stayer. Theos Lolly has a valuable seven taken off but is drawn widest of all in stall 15 and Monaco Rose is consistent. My Fantasea is dropping to a dangerous mark and may like the ground but he has had a long break. Our gelding remains unexposed and is progressing in the right direction so we hope he will go close here.