Booshbash
It started off as a calm and bright morning here at HQ but it has become overcast and the wind has picked up. I have headed off to Salisbury as Sagaciously is running in the Listed Upavon Fillies’ Stakes at 3:50. I hope she can finally get the Black Type that has eluded her. It was fascinating to see that connections of Lady Aurelia are strongly considering taking on Caravaggio in the Prix Morny, what a race that promises to be. Kingsgate Native must be able to read and after spotting that he may be put into retirement, the eleven year old got his head in front in the Conditions race at Nottingham last night. He has been a very good servant to racing and his connections.
Blushes was second at Windsor on Monday evening and the blinkers seemed to help her. Silvestre thinks she will be suited better by a step up in trip, so we will look at stepping her up to ten or even twelve furlongs in the near future.
We run two horses today, Sagaciously as mentioned above runs in the Upavon Stakes. She put in a career best performance last time and if she can repeat that then she would hold solid each way claims. Ten furlongs on fast ground is ideal and James Doyle is back in the saddle. Sharja Queen is a rapid improver and although the second from her latest win has let the form down, it was visually impressive. Her Group entries suggest she is thought capable of better. The Henry Candy string are in good form and Chain of Daisies on her 2015 form would have every chance. Beauly has a Listed second to her name but the form of that race has not worked out as well as it was expected to and Very Dashing is a Maiden winner who is very unexposed. The other fillies are smart in their own right being rated 90 or higher and the race has attracted a quality field.
Booshbash runs in the first at Kempton, she shaped last time as if she needed a step up in trip and so we have upped her to seven furlongs. I thought that taking some weight off would help and so Harry Burns our Apprentice he has kept the ride. The surface is an unknown but she handles the all-weather well at home and I am hoping she can run with credit off of a mark of 59. Jumping Jack looks the main danger, he won comfortably at Kempton last week and is two pounds well in compared to his official rating. The other four runners are unexposed with Wakened hinting at ability and Elements Legacy placing on his penultimate start, albeit in a seller.
The Olympics has been slightly disappointing for Great Britain although we started off slowly at the London games too back in 2012. It was sad to see William Fox-Pitt have a hiccup in the cross country having done so well in the dressage which cost him any chance of a medal in the Eventing. The Gold medalist Michael Jung has been phenomenal, he has now won the Eventing Triple Crown as well as the Olympics and in a sport where so much can go wrong it is quite a remarkable achievement which is unlikely to ever be repeated for many years.