Lingfield Saturday
William Hill Lingfield Derby Trial (Listed)
AIDAN O’Brien completely dominated the classic trials at Chester and the Ballydoyle domination continued with wins in both Lingfield’s trials last Saturday.
Puppet Master denied stablemate Stay True (Richard Kingscote) in the Listed Derby Trial to give Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore a double on the day and complete the Ballydoyle clean-sweep in the Chester and Lingfield classic trials.
Having already landed the Cheshire Oaks, Chester Vase and Dee Stakes on the Roodee, Aidan O’Brien’s trials domination was complete when Puppet Master justified 4/5 favouritism in gritty style, just denying his strong-travelling stablemate in a tight finish to score by a short-head and then surviving a stewards’ enquiry.
The Ballydoyle pair had the race to themselves from some way out, but the verdict was in the balance all the way to the line, and even when the result was called there was some trepidation that the verdict might be overturned.
It looked momentarily as though Stay True was going to get past the winner, but despite edging off his intended line, Puppet Master found enough to cling on.
Lovely horse
“He’s a nice horse who we’ve always held in high regard,” said Moore on ITV Racing. “He’s done well because going downhill on that ground probably wasn’t ideal for him. The second horse is a lovely horse as well. They’re two nice horses going forward.”
Looking back on Chester and Lingfield, Paul Smith added: “It’s been a great week, and these are two lovely horses who hit the line hard. Ryan said Puppet Master relaxed well and is quite an uncomplicated horse.
“Richard was very encouraged by Stay True. He said he’s still a bit of a baby on just a second run and will get the trip nicely. It was interesting that the further they went, the further they went clear of the third horse.
“We will see what happens, as we have runners in France and at York and there’s always the Irish Derby and Ascot as well as Epsom. The Delacroix form looks strong, and we like him and the two that finished behind him.”
Oaks Trial
The day began with Giselle’s easy win in a three-runner Oaks Trial. The daughter of Frankel was prohibitively priced at 30/100 favourite and gave backers no palpitations as she and Ryan Moore strolled to a nine-length win over Harpsichord (Simon and Ed Crisford/Jack Mitchell) to put herself in the Epsom reckoning.
Winner of a seven-furlong Curragh maiden in September before a creditable effort in the Silken Glider Stakes, Giselle has clearly trained on well and as well as her Oaks engagement, also holds entries in four other Group 1 races, including the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown, one of only two of the stable’s three-year-old fillies with that honour.
Paul Smith, representing the owners, said: “Giselle has done it well and three-runner races when the pace is slow are never easy. Ryan said she’s a top-class filly and she’s going the right way. She’s a beautiful stamp of a horse. She was keen but you’ll see a more relaxed filly in a better race. We’ve got runners tomorrow and next week at York so we’re going to learn a lot over the next few days, and then we can take stock and see what happens. She’s in the mix for Epsom for sure.”
Generation repeats
The Group 3 Chartwell Fillies’ Stakes was strictly the feature at Lingfield, and it saw 2024 winner Great Generation (Marco Botti/Marco Ghiani) repeat her success, with the 11/2 chance beating Falmouth Stakes runner-up Jabaara (Roger Varian/Silvestre de Sousa) by a neck. Held up off the gallop set by Spiritual in the early stages, Great Generation came through strongly from what looked an unpromising position and was doing well to defy a penalty she carried for winning the Sceptre Stakes at Doncaster’s St Leger Meeting.
“Marco did well,” said a delighted Botti of the winning ride. “He was patient, and I was delighted at the way she picked up with a penalty. She’s such a good mover with a very good turn of foot, and I said to Marco sit and wait.
“She’s 20 kilos heavier than last year and has done really well physically. There is Ascot and York later on, but the race I would love to win is the July Cup. We just need to decide whether to stick at seven furlongs, though in the back of my mind we might go back to six.
“She’s definitely got stronger. Coming back here and winning in style is a good omen for the season ahead.”
Haydock Saturday
OUR Champ (Chris/Freddie Gordon) showed he is thriving on his racing when pulling clear after the final hurdle to win the Pertemps Network Swinton Handicap Hurdle at Haydock’s mixed card last Saturday.
Winner of a valuable handicap at Ascot earlier in the season, he has been running well all term in some tough contests, most recently when third to Absurde in the Sussex Champion Hurdle at Plumpton on Easter Sunday, a race he had won 12 months earlier.
Givemefive made most of the running but was tackled by the winner between the last two flights, and it was Helnwein who ran on best of the others to grab second, three and three-quarter lengths behind the dominant Our Champ.
Freddie Gordon told Racing TV: “He’s been a star for the yard; he gives his all every single time he runs. I thought he might have too much weight today but he’s a decent animal on his day.
“Hopefully, there’s more to come because he’s still young, he’s only seven. His last few runs have been in very tough races. All I wanted was a nice lead today because last time I tried to run the sting out of Absurde. Today I could take my time.
“I lost a good friend in Lambourn this morning (Billy Moffatt), he was a brilliant lad, so I just want to dedicate that to him.”
Trophy for Burrows
Owen Burrows continued his fine record for the season when Alyanaabi (Jim Crowley) made it nine wins from just 17 runners for the yard in 2025 in the Listed Pertemps Network Spring Trophy.
The four-year-old gelding returned to his best to beat Tiber Flow and Annaf in the seven-furlong contest to the delight of those who backed him into Evens favourite.
Ascot Saturday
HOLLIE Doyle became the most successful female jockey in British racing history when scoring on Brindavan at Ascot last Saturday.
The win was the 1023rd of Doyle’s career and means she has now passed the total set by the now-retired Hayley Turner.
It was also a good day at Ascot for the up-and-coming Saffie Osborne, who gained one of her most significant wins to date when her father’s Hickory landed the valuable Victoria Cup at odds of 22/1, beating 16 rivals headed by 5/1 favourite Qirat (Ralph Beckett/Rossa Ryan).