NEWMARKET SATURDAY
ON a splendid day for bookmakers, with outsider after outsider going in, Jack Hobbs (8/15) ran miles below his best in the Group 2 Dunaden At Overbury Jockey Club Stakes and was pulled up behind easy winner Exosphere, 15/2.
Trained by Sir Michael Stoute and ridden by Ryan Moore, Exosphere was held up as Big Orange made the running but moved through to lead entering the final furlong.
From then on it was a procession as the son of Beat Hollow pulled right away to beat St Leger heroine Simple Verse by four lengths with Big Orange a further five away in third.
Jack Hobbs, Irish Derby winner and third in the Champion Stakes, gave John Gosden his first real setback this term and was dismounted by William Buick after making no impression at all.
Moore says little but every word counts and he admitted to being ‘a bit surprised’ by Exosphere’s victory. The performance was certainly some way in advance of his previous outing in a listed contest last season but Stoute is a master with older horses.
“He’s grown up a lot this year and really matured,” he said. “He won that well and we’ll have to think about Royal Ascot but not just yet.”
The royal meeting would probably involve a shot at the Hardwicke Stakes and all the 20/1 has predictably disappeared. Indeed, one or two firms offered no more than 4/1, which seems something of an overreaction at this early stage.
Simple Verse did well under a 5lb penalty and Ralph Beckett will go for the Coronation Cup but Big Orange needs further and the Gold Cup is the principal objective. Gosden was puzzled by Jack Hobbs’ performance and tests were ordered.
PROFITABLE FOR COX
The fancied horses came with their chance in the Group 3 Pearl Bloodstock Palace House Stakes but it was Clive Cox’s 20/1 shot Profitable who kept on best towards the near side to beat Godolphin’s Jungle Cat by half a length with 9/2 favourite Waady only a neck behind in third.
On a mixed day for Godolphin, Jungle Cat stayed out in the centre but was right up with the pace and looked like winning until Profitable found a bit extra for Adam Kirby close home.
As with Exosphere, this was quite a step-up on previous form but Profitable seems to have improved at four, appreciated the drying ground and is probably most effective at the minimum trip. He will head for the King’s Stand, with 14/1 being offered.
Robert Cowell is rightly regarded as a top trainer of sprinters and his Spirit Quartz, 20/1 from 33/1, took the eye in fourth and looks one to follow this summer. Sole Power was well up early on but didn’t appear to have his customary kick in the final furlong finishing 11th.
Godolphin struck at listed level when Hawksbill quickened up best in the Havana Gold Newmarket Stakes over 10 furlongs, accounting for Abdon by just over a length after leading over a furlong out.
Progressive on the all-weather, Hawksbill (14/1) can improve again at this trip, Buick expressing doubts about his effectiveness over a mile and half.
He was a clear-cut winner for Charlie Appleby, though punters are baffled by the prices in races where Godolphin have more than one runner. Here, Saeed bin Suroor’s Cymric started at 7/2 and finished stone last.
Backers were happier after the next, Appleby and Buick completing a double as 7/4 favourite Folkswood won the mile handicap. Bin Suroor’s Brave Hero, 5/1, who seems far from in love with the game, was another to finish last.
WOOD STARS
2000 Guineas afternoon is not necessarily a time when punters look for a 7lb claimer to shine on the supporting card but that is precisely what happened as George Wood prevailed on James Fanshawe’s 20/1 shot Knight Owl in the opening Suffolk Stakes, a nine-furlong handicap.
At six, Knight Owl, who finished fourth in this last year, was unlikely to improve and had not been seen since winning a mile handicap at Kempton on November.
However, he was confidently ridden by the lad, came through on the bridle to lead before the furlong pole and then responded to pressure to hold Examiner and Revolutionist as they closed on him towards the finish.
“My wife fancied Knight Owl more than I did but she’s probably a better judge anyway,” Fanshawe grinned. “I think we’ll have a go at the Hunt Cup now, it’s the right race for him.”
As inexperienced as he is, in Newmarket terms Wood has been around a while compared with Shane Foley, who made his first-ever ride on the Rowley Mile a winning one as he guided home John Quinn’s Ikerrin Road in the six-furlong handicap.
Quinn makes hardly any mistakes on his forays south and Ikerrin Road, an Iffraaj colt, was very fair value at 7/1 after a good spell on the all-weather.
He beat 5/2 favourite Yattwee quite comfortably and Foley, riding for his boss, was not getting carried away when he suggested that competing at a much higher level might be on the cards.