Red Cadeaux having a roll with Steve.
A warm and pleasant morning.
I am on the road to Doncaster with Mr Quy, whose filly is one of our six runners today during a very busy week.
We had film crews here this morning taking shots of our horses heading into quarantine. Everything went smoothly and they are now safely tucked away for two weeks before flying to Australia.
Sharaakah kicks us off on Town Moor in the fillies’ nursery and this has been the plan since she finished second at Newmarket last month. We think this trip will suit, as will the drying ground, so while Jeremy Noseda’s Nemoralia might be a blot on the handicap, this looked the logical next step for our filly.
Island Remede will take her chance in what appears a competitive renewal of the Park Hill. She would have preferred more cut in the ground, but this is the right race for her and there aren’t a great deal of options for fillies with her profile.
Qeyaadah held engagements in yesterday’s nursery and the Flying Scotsman, but the huge pot on offer in the sales race has drawn us in to this engagement. His strong-travelling style suggests he will appreciate this intermediate trip and while he is not as nicely weighted as sum, this race has thrown up plenty of surprises in the past.
At Chepstow, Blushes makes her second start in the fillies’ maiden and Puzzled Look, who finished second behind Sharaakah on debut, is the one to beat. Our filly showed promise at Kempton and should come on for the run.
Hajeer was probably ridden too prominently at Lingfield and this is another average race in which to try and break her duck. The extra furlong ought to suit her.
Lastly, Hanno is on a retrieval mission in the mile handicap, and while it’s hard to know which mood he will turn up in, his homework has been encouraging of late and a mark of 71 remains tempting on the pick of his form.
Five declarations for Saturday – Pyla (George Baker) to Bath, God Willing (Andrea Atzeni) to Doncaster and Pimpernella (Freddie Tylicki), Ejbaar (Dane O’Neill) and Zarwaan (Dane O’Neill) to Lingfield.
Finally, what a superb result in the Leger Legends race yesterday. AP, predictably, looked like he had never been away and it’s great for the sport that we could get him back in the saddle – which fetched £15,000 at auction – for one final time.
Ed.