Mabs has all the right attributes

MABS Cross ended 2018 with a memorable win in the Prix de L’Abbaye, and she repeated her win in the Group 3 Palace House Stakes to start the new season looking better than ever.

Last year she beat Judicial narrowly in receipt of the fillies’ allowance, but was carrying a 7lb penalty this time, so deserves huge credit for increasing her margin over that horse by a little more than four lengths.

Once again she didn’t win this race by far, and it’s easy enough to knock Ornate in second, but when she started her run, there was an air of inevitability about it, and she is a most determined performer who, unlike most sprinters, has simply never had a bad day at the office.

Battaash is still her superior in handicapping terms, but what she lacks in his explosive early pace she makes up for in toughness and durability, and if the pair meet several times this season, she’s unlikely to come away empty-handed.

Once again, Michael Dods has come up trumps in the sprinting division with a cheaply-bought filly, Mabs Cross costing just £3,000 as a yearling, and his superstar Mecca’s Angel was hardly expensive at 16,000gns at the same stage; black-type winners Easton Angel (18,000gns foal) and Intense Romance (€21,000 yearling) didn’t break the bank, either. Durham isn’t renowned as a training centre, but Dods is doing something right there, and his success is to be roundly applauded.

Equilateral also produced a career-best performance, and can be marked up as he would have done better with something to aim at himself, rather than being the one with a target on his back. He’s always looked an exceptional talent, and until now has flattered only to deceive. This is his opportunity to kick on, and he needs to seize it. Sergei Prokofiev was ostensibly disappointing, but he didn’t deserve to be a warm favourite for this on form, and while he won the Cornwallis Stakes last year, that race is hardly a springboard for champions.

It goes without saying that he’s in excellent hands, but he needs to develop a lot further to be more than a bit-part player in championship class.

Communique and De Sousa in harmony

COMMUNIQUE is well suited by the demands of Newmarket, not to mention the instincts of Silvestre de Sousa, and he took advantage of the foibles of others with a front-running performance in the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes, which saw him to maximum effect.

He’s unlikely to make a splash at the highest level, but is a straightforward ride who finds generously for pressure, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him go well in something like the Coronation Cup, which tends to be one of the more weakly-contested Group 1 races of the summer. No doubt his handler will also be scouring the international programme book for suitable opportunities.

Defoe was aiming to win this for a second year running, and performed with credit in coming from off the pace to finish second. He did nothing wrong under David Egan, but the pattern races he won last season (beating Red Verdon in this and Danehill Kodiac at Newbury) were weak affairs, and his limitations have been shown up since.

One obvious option for him is to step up in trip, and the Yorkshire Cup would fit well into his schedule. He won the Geoffrey Freer Stakes as a three-year-old, and his defeat in the St Leger was nothing to do with stamina.

Young Rascal can be forgiven this run in isolation as he seemed to hate coming down the hill on fast ground, and looks like he will prove best on more conventional tracks, with three of his four wins have come at Newbury.

Fillies Worth Waiting for

THERE were two fillies races of note on Sunday and the Group 2 Charm Spirit Dahlia Stakes saw the reappearance of last year’s 1000 Guineas winner Billesdon Brook and the smart Nyaleti, who won the German 1000 Guineas last year.

Neither were a match for the David Lanigan-trained four-year-old Worth Waiting who quickened well to lead over three out for James Doyle and kept on well inside the final furlong to win by a length from Nyaleti and Billesdon Brook.

There was an impressive winner of the Listed Tweenhills Pretty Polly over 10 furlongs where the William Haggas-trained Maqsad ran out a five-length winner under Jim Crowley at odds of 5/4. The filly was cut to 7/1 for the Oaks at Epsom

Haggas said afterwards: “The big question is the extra couple of furlongs. She’s in the French Oaks, the Epsom Oaks and the Ribblesdale so we’ve got to sit down and think about it.”