Royal Ascot countdown, w/c: 25 May | 1 June | 8 June | 22 June | 29 June | 6 July

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Thursday 25 June 2009

James Fanshawe is planning to run his recent Windsor Forest Stakes winner Spacious in the Group One Falmouth Stakes on 8 July. The Newmarket trainer has previosuly won the race with Macadamia and twice with Soviet Song.

Fanshawe said: "We are aiming Spacious at the Falmouth Stakes at this stage. I haven't done much with her since the Windsor Forest but she looks very well for her run and she seems in good form.

"She was second in the 1000 Guineas last year and I just think that took a lot out of her. I think what everyone hopes is that she benefits from having won. She was very game at Ascot and she seems to have come out of the race fine.

"She prefers a galloping track to a tight one and her second in the Guineas on the Rowley Mile suggests that the July Course will be fine for her. She's won on soft and good to firm and I think she just doesn't want extremes of going."

Aidan O'Brien is looking forward to running four-time Gold Cup winner Yeats in middle distance events. The trainer told At The Races: "Obviously it's up to the boss but all the options are open to him and I suppose the first one that would be open to him is the King George.

"Then there is the Irish Leger, the Arc, the Prix du Cadran and all those races so we'll just have to see what happens. After this weekend we'll probably all sit down and have a good chat about it.

"If you go back and look at the way he travels through his races and when Johnny says go, you see the way he accelerates. He was a very impressive winner of a Coronation Cup and at this time of year when he's up into full speed he's a very, very classy horse."

Ed Dunlop is considering the Cherry Hinton Stakes at Newmarket and the Lowther Stakes at York as possible targets for his impressive Albany Stakes winner Habaayib.

Fratellino, second to Strike The Tiger in the Windsor Castle STakes, could head to the Group Three Acomb Stakes at York on August 18. The juvenile won over five furlongs on the Knavesmire in May.

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Wednesday 24 June 2009

Californian trainer Wesley Ward could send his Queen Mary Stakes winner Jealous Again back to England for a crack at the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket in October.

The trainer told the Thoroughbred Times: "That would give her enough time to get over a big win like this. The Cheveley Park is certainly something we're looking at.

"She'll come back and have a little time to relax and wind down until we get to the point where we're going to start training her. Then we'll have a good indicator how much time she'll need in between races."

Dual Classic winner Sea The Stars is one of 17 entries for Sunday's Irish Derby, but John Oxx has cautioned the colt will only run if the ground is on the firm side. He told PA Sport: "He worked this morning and everything went well. He came out of Epsom in great form and thankfully we have had no hold-ups since then.

"I walked the track on Saturday and again this morning and there is still plenty of moisture in the ground so it wouldn't take a lot of rain to change it against us.

"The weather is very warm but it's also very humid and there is not much wind so the course is not drying very quickly.

"Today it would have been borderline as I thought the straight was on the slow side - maybe we would have been a little bit concerned. We had an awful lot of rain last Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and it is just taking time to dry out.

"We'll make a decision whether to declare him and even then we would have to watch the weather. There is no rush to decide and we could even make a final decision on the day."

Oxx is also hoping for a productive season with Katiyra, who makes her seasonal debut in Saturday's Audi Pretty Polly Stakes.

"This has been the plan for Katiyra for a while and she is going to run, all being well," Oxx continued. "She's in good shape and ready to start and I think she is fit enough to do herself justice. She has done well over the winter and she's a big, rangy filly so you would expect her to improve a little maybe.

"We'll have to see how she runs as with fillies you never really know until they hit the track at four how they've really come on, but she looks like one who could be a useful four-year-old. It obviously looks a hot race and if they all turn up, it will be a hell of a race."

Runaway Royal Hunt Cup winner Forgotten Voice is to bypass the John Smith's Cup in favour of a conditions event at Doncaster.

Trainer Jeremy Noseda told his website www.jeremynoseda.com: "I am delighted with how he has come out of Ascot. We have decided not to go for the John Smith's Cup but to go down another route.

"He will head to a mile conditions race at Doncaster on July 16 which we shall use to decide what his next major target will be."

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Tuesday 23 June 2009

Golden Jubilee Stakes second Cannonball is to miss the July Cup and head back Stateside on Wednesday with the rest of Wesley Ward's Ascot raiding party. Connections have decided the Newmarket contest comes too soon after Ascot, but they intend to return for next year's Golden Jubilee.

Clive Brittain is planning to run Queen Mary Stakes second Misheer in the Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes. The trainer told PA Sport: "She's in good form and has taken the race very well. We weren't quite sure what the Americans were like until we met them, but she beat all the others anyway.

"There's a strong chance she'll go for the Moyglare - that was the plan if she won - so we'll stick to that. I don't know yet if she'll run before then. She only lost four kilos during the race and has put it back on plus two more. She's a tough filly."

Brittain's Nashmiah was well beaten in the Group One Coronation Stakes and is likely to be dropped back to Listed company for her next run.

Jamie Osborne is considering the Breeders' Cup Marathon for Gold Cup third Geordieland. He said: "He's fine, he didn't have a very hard race. Obviously with the benefit of hindsight I wouldn't mind another go, but there you go.

"That's Ascot for another year. The plan now would be to leave the Goodwood Cup as an option and I think it's more likely we'll take him to York for the Lonsdale Cup, or later on we've got the Doncaster Cup. My favourite plan at the moment would be to go for the Lonsdale and then seriously consider the Breeders' Cup Marathon."

The Group One Audi Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday has attracted 13 entries headed by last season’s Epsom Oaks heroine Look Here. The Ralph Beckett-trained mare has plenty of opposition, however, including Dar Re Mi and Heaven Sent, who just lost out to Spacious in last weeks Windsor Forest Stakes at Royal Ascot. Lush Lashes, who was sixth in that event, is also among the entries for Saturday’s race along with Katiyra, Beach Bunny, Profound Beauty and the Aidan O’Brien-trained pair of Roman Empress and Totally Devoted.

There is also a good overseas challenge for the Group Three At The Races Curragh Cup on Saturday with All The Aces, Funnigadelagiuata, Mad Rush and Spanish Moon among the 13 entries. John Oxx has entered two in Alandi and Alaivan, while Aidan O’Brien will rely on either Changingoftheguard or Yankee Doodle. Also entered for the mile and six furlong contest are Nafaath, Profound Beauty and Wanna.

Friday evening’s Ballygallon Stud Stakes has attracted a quality line-up of juveniles. Trainer Jim Bolger has three of the 13 entries for the Listed contest and can choose between Gold Bubbles, Kitty Kiernan and Rosa Muscosa. Kevin Prendergast has entered two in Alahahbaa and Velvet Flicker, while Aidan O’Brien is set to rely on Famous.

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Monday 22 June 2009

Four time Gold Cup winner Yeats has returned to Ballydoyle sound and well after his historic win at Ascot last Thursday, and the stayer could be in line for a run in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October.

Coolmore supremo John Magnier told the Daily Telegraph: "Aidan has said the horse is back, cantering away, and fine in himself, and his future will revolve around Goodwood, The Curragh, and the Arc weekend in Paris. It will be a mixture of these options."

Although he has made his name as a stayer, Yeats has also won the Derrinstown Derby Trial (10f), Coronation Cup (12f) and the Irish St Leger (14f) and was favourite for the Derby before being ruled out of the race.

"He'll be entered for the Arc, but there's no guarantee he'll run. But history tells us that really good stayers have run well in the Arc, horses such as Levmoss and Ardross," Magnier continued.

Brian Meehan plans to run Norfolk Stakes winner Radiohead in the Group One Nunthorpe stakes at York's Ebor meeting. Kingsgate Native triumphed as a juvenile in the race in 2007.

"I still find it hard to believe that Radiohead managed to win after taking such a hefty bump sp close to the finish. Luckily, he seems none the worse and appears to have taken the race very well," the trainer told his website, www.brianmeehanatmanton.com. "Jamie Spencer is taking a bit of an enforced break for the next few days, but when he comes back we will look at the options and it could well be that we will have a crack at the older generations and target the Nunthorpe. Let's say, at the moment, it is a definite possibilty!"

Richard Hannon's Canford Cliffs was an impressive winner of the Coventry stakes, and looks set to step up to Group One company next in the Prix Morny. Hannon told richardhannonracing.tv: "Canford Cliffs would have a 3lb penalty for the July Stakes, and, in any event, I want to run Angel's Pursuit at Newmarket as he never got the breaks in the Windsor Castle and is a lot better than he looked at the Royal meeting.

"Canford Cliffs is not entered in the Phoenix Stakes and it would cost 25,000 euros to supplement him for the Curragh, so the Deauville race, which has not yet closed, looks the favoured option.

"I know it is two months away, but the break will do him good and Paul Roy, who bought a half-share in the colt the night before the Coventry, won the Morny with Dutch Art three years ago.

"We want to look after Canford Cliffs this season as he is a rangy colt with size and scope about him, and I am not surprised that the bookies have him favourite for next year's 2000 Guineas.

"He has so much speed that inevitably there will be those who will question his ability to get the mile, but he will learn to settle better as he matures through the summer, and neither Richard Hughes nor I have any doubts about him staying the longer distance."

Hannon plans to run Chesham Stakes winner Big Audio in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket on July 10. "Big Audio might well run in the Superlative Stakes, for which he does not incur a penalty," said the trainer. "We knew that he would improve for the step up to seven furlongs, but we were concerned that the ground at Ascot might be too quick, so it was a pleasant surprise to win.

"Hughesie was impressed with the foot he showed to make up 15 lengths on the leaders who had gone off too fast. It was certainly a nice way to break our maiden."

Golden Jubilee Stakes winner Art Connoisseur will continue his sprint career in the Group One Darley July Cup. Trainer Michael Bell told PA Sport the colt looks to be over his recent splint issue and added: "The Darley July Cup at Newmarket next month is the obvious next target as long as the ground is suitable. All being well it's the July Cup, but fast ground is the key. We will monitor the ground, that is a prerequisite for him, but that would be very much the plan. That Coventry form was rock solid so if he was back to his best, he would have a chance and unbeknown to his trainer he was."

King's Stand winner Scenic Blast is another expected to line up in the July Cup, as is Group One winning miler Paco Boy.

South African star JJ The Jet Plane is likely to run at Newmarket, but is likely to step up in trip thereafter. His trainer Mike de Kock told mikedekockracing.com: "JJ The Jet Plane ran like a horse that needs more ground and he acquitted himself well.

"They didn't go fast early, and the race turned into a dash over the last few furlongs. He was outpaced, but came back strongly to finish fourth.

"The July Cup is a stiff sprint and he will do well, but I will put my head on a block that we can win a feature race with him over ground.

"We're competing against the best in the world, and if you watch this race objectively you will see what a good run it was from J J The Jet Plane."

Queen Alexandra Stakes winner Caracciola could be headed for the Breeders' Cup Marathon at Santa Anita later this year.