Newmarket Friday
Betfred Jockey Club Stakes (Group 2)
LAST season’s Group 2 Betfred Park Hill Fillies’ Stakes winner Santorini Star got her season off to a good start in the Betfred Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket. Finding plenty for pressure, the daughter of Golden Horn beat Eydon by a length and a quarter and left connections to ponder supplementing her for the Coronation Cup.
The William Haggas-trained mare went off the 9/4 favourite under Tom Marquand. Haggas was left ruing his decision not to enter her for the Coronation Cup at Epsom and wondered if she should be supplemented at a cost of £55,000. “She was second in a Group 1 last year and she’s just proved that she’s quick enough to win a Group 2,” said Haggas.
“She did it well enough and she won by over a length in the end. When they try you can generally find the right race eventually. She doesn’t need to make the running, she just puts her head down and wants to win. Those horses are hard to find and with this family, Dreamloper (half-sister) didn’t half improve when she was five so this filly could improve too.”
The Listed Newmarket Stakes went to rank outsider Ancient Egypt (Charlie Johnston/Rowan Scott), with the son of Frankel defying an SP of 16/1 and bouncing back from a poor effort in the Royal Lodge Stakes behind Bow Echo.
Ascot Friday
THE Group 3 Sagaro Stakes produced a cliff-hanger of a finish, with Sweet William (John & Thady Gosden/Rab Havlin), the 8/11 favourite, idling in front having joined longtime leader Caballo Del Mar (George Scott/William Buick) over a furlong out and holding on by a diminishing short head at the line. The front pair pulled eight lengths clear of the rest, headed by Miss Alpilles (Ed Walker/Kieran Shoemark).
Sweet William tends to race lazily when coming off the bridle, and this performance was typical of him, with the margin likely to have been greater had he fully exerted himself. In the frame in the Gold Cup at Ascot in 2024 and 2025, he will head back for another try next month, with bookmakers cutting his price to a general 12/1.
Thady Gosden said: “He’s a horse who likes to keep you guessing so he was quite happy to stick his head up going up the straight and after two miles round there I think the jockey was having a good blow too afterwards. He hit the front and was happy to stay here rather than go away from the second, but he was in front when it mattered at the line.”
Gritty success
The Group 3 Pavilion Stakes is run as the Commonwealth Cup Trial currently and Coppull (Clive Cox/Rossa Ryan) put his name forward for the three-year-old only Group 1 with a classy win in Friday’s trial. Winner of the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood as a juvenile and a close third behind Wise Approach and Brussels in the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket, the son of Bated Breath was backed into 7/2 and reversed the form with the pair who beat him in the latter contest, with his old rivals only able to manage fourth and fifth on the day.
It was rank outsider Midnight Tango (Ed Walker/Kieran Shoemark) who gave him the biggest fright, launching a strong run from the rear which briefly looked like it would take her to victory, but falling short by a neck at the line as the winner dug deep. Division (William Haggas/James Doyle), another who started slowly and had to come from the rear of the field, was the same distance back in third.
Now a 12/1 shot for Royal Ascot glory, Coppull may go to the Sandy Lane Stakes ahead of Ascot, but his trainer was encouraged by this display, saying: “I was really impressed with how he quickened twice there as he kind of idled a little bit but got going again. He battled back well and I’m really proud of him.”
The opening contest at Ascot was an event for juveniles, in which Newmarket winner Adaay Of Scarlett (Hugo Palmer/James Doyle) was pitched against the first two from the Brocklesby Stakes at Doncaster.
Sent off favourite at 11/8, Adaay Of Scarlett justified market confidence in making all under a controlled Doyle ride, but it was a tight-run affair with just a neck separating the winner from Doncaster runner-up Dance A Jig (Ralph Beckett/Rossa Ryan), and Brocklesby winner A Bear Affair staying on again after being outpaced to be beaten a length in total.
Epsom Tuesday
THE Blue Riband Trial at Epsom has a modest record at producing Derby winners, but this year’s race was run nearer to the Derby meeting than usual due to issues with the watering system at Epsom, and its proximity to the big race could be a blessing for winner Saxon Street (John & Thady Gosden/William Buick) who will bid to become the first winner of the Epsom trial to go on to Derby glory since Blue Peter in 1939.
The son of Saxon Warrior was a well-fancied 5/2 second favourite on Tuesday and ran out a comfortable two-and-a-half-length winner from Rebel Rocker (Faye Bramley/Rob Hornby) with Balzac (Jane Chapple-Hyam/Hollie Doyle) another length and a quarter back in third.
Odds-on favourite New Zealand finished a disappointing fourth.
Thady Gosden said: “He has some stamina in his pedigree, and he should stay a mile and a half no problem. Whether we go straight there or have another run over a mile and a quarter next time, we will see.
“There is plenty of water to go under the bridge before the Derby, but he has done it well today.”