Newcastle Friday/Saturday

WITH a pedigree like she has, by Frankel out of Lingfield Oaks Trial runner-up Midsummer, and therefore a half-sister to Midday, Sun Maiden was always a valuable commodity for owner/breeder Khalid Abdullah, but a Group 3 win in the Hoppings Stakes at Newcastle last Friday week merely adds to her lustre.

Her fabled sibling won the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood an unprecedented three times, and Sir Michael Stoute’s filly has an entry in that race at the beginning of next month as well as in the Yorkshire Oaks.

To win either of those top-level contests would take a further chunk of improvement, but by beating Nyaleti by half a length at Gosforth Park, she was producing a career best. The handicapper saw fit to raise her rating to 106 from 100, and she is in the hands of a master when it comes to getting sustained improvement from his top performers.

One of the disappointments of the Diamond Jubilee was the underperformance of the exciting Invincible Army, who had looked every inch a candidate for top sprinting honours when winning the Duke of York Stakes in ready fashion.

For the second year running, he failed to give his running at the royal meeting, but was turned out quickly last Saturday to remind racegoers that he is not far off the best around, especially with Blue Point now retired.

Recovered

Starting slowly at Newcastle in the Group 3 Betfair Exchange Chipchase Stakes, he quickly recovered to take the lead and was never in danger of defeat in the latter stages, coming home clear of Laugh A Minute and Island Of Life.

“You could see with the naked eye that he was back on song,” said winning jockey P.J. McDonald “I have to give James credit, because it would have been very easy to wrap this horse up and back off him – looking for problems that weren’t there. this was a nice confidence booster for him.”

Former jockey Philip Robinson, representing Saeed Manana, suggested the July Cup would come a little soon, and with easy ground deemed important to the son of Invincible Spirit, suggested that the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville was a possibility, with the Sprint Cup at Haydock a longterm target.

Ponsonby success

The big race of last weekend was the Northumberland Plate, or Pitman’s Derby as it’s often known locally. This year’s affair was probably not a vintage renewal with the big gamble on Roger Varian’s Gibbs Hill going spectacularly astray, and last year’s impressive winner Withhold withdrawn on the eve of the race.

In the end, the fully exposed Who Dares Wins, carrying the familiar Henry Ponsonby colours of white with red seams, gained compensation for a plethora of placed efforts in big handicaps over hurdles and on the flat which include three successive in-frame efforts in the Chester Cup.

Ponsonby has been a pioneer in the field of syndicated ownership, with big winners in these colours going back to 1986 Arkle winner Oregon Trail. The longevity of the operation is testament to Ponsonby’s ability to match small groups together, and remains a benchmark for similar operations.

Wins for Cromwell, Murray, Elliott

GAVIN Cromwell was in double form at Musselburgh on Wednesday. Favourite Lever Du Soleil went off at 5/6 in the two-mile handicap chase and won under Clifford Lee for the Sunrise Partnership.

In the second division of the mile handicap, the 4/1 Lappet made all and held on to win for Graham Lee and owner Thomas Mitchell.

Hamilton on Tuesday also saw a double for an Irish trainer – Adrian Murray. Division one of the Ferniegair Handicap went to the 5/1 Blackstone Cliff with James Sullivan on board. Rego Park Lady (3/1) followed up in the five-furlong handicap, again with James Sullivan.

At Perth on Thursday Gordon Elliott notched up his double through Creadan Grae (11/4) in the two-mile, four-furlong handicap chase and Ned Stark at 13/5 in the three-mile handicap chase, both ridden by Richard Johnson.

The Jam Man, ownned and trained by Ronan McNally, won chasing at Cartmel last Sunday and was due to run again at Newton Abbott yesterday.