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Classic countdown for 12 May 2008Filed on 13 May 2008 @ 10:26
Major race entries 2008: Derby | Oaks | Coronation Cup Classic countdown, w/c: 7 April | 14 April | 21 April | 28 April | 5 May | 19 May | 12 May | 19 May | 26 May Sunday 18 May 2008It has emerged that Twice Over may not hevae been 100% when getting turned over by Tartan Bearer in Thursday's Dante Stakes at York. Owner Khalid Abdulla's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe said: "Twice Over's blood wasn't quite right after his race. We are just going to sit on him for a while, but the Derby still remains very much doubtful." Saturday 17 May 20082000 Guineas first and second are likely to meet again in the Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh next weekend, after Aidan O'Brien confirmed Henrythenavigator will contest the race if conditions are suitable. "Henrythenavigator will run in the Irish 2000 Guineas next weekend if the ground is good or better," said O'Brien. Godolphin look set to try Racing Post Trophy winner Ibn Khaldun over a mile and a half in the Derby. Saeed bin Suroor said: "I am very happy with Ibn. Frankie rode him in work and we were happy, and he will work again next week when we will find out more about him. "He is much better than he showed in the Guineas and I know from his work in Dubai that he is a class horse. He is still in the Irish Guineas and I will talk to his owner but he is more likely to run in the Derby." John Oxx is to send his classy filly Katiyra to contest the Oaks at Epsom. The trainer told PA Sport: "Katiyra has come out of Leopardstown OK - she's been fine all week. "She put up a good show, it was a decent race and she was a little bit unfortunate not to be able to make her run a bit earlier - she might have won but that's neither here nor there. The main thing was that she ran a good race and ran like she wanted further. "We just wanted to find out if she would be a 1000 Guineas candidate as well as a possible Oaks candidate but, although she'd probably run a real good race in the 1000 Guineas, we just think that it might be better to wait and stretch her out so the plan is to run her in the Oaks." Friday 16 May 2008The Roger Charlton-trained Clowance won the Newbury maiden won previously by Oaks winner Eswarah last month and she emulated that filly by going on to land the Listed Swettenham Stud Fillies' Trial at the same course, tracking the leaders under Steve Drowne before being pushed out to take the lead a furlong out and staying on well for a comfortable success. Kotsi had raced further in arrears and ran on well to take second, a length and three quarters down, with Hobby in third. Roger Charlton said after the race: "The owner is very keen to go to the Oaks. She just gallops and stays and when she hit the front, she didn't do a lot. She'll need to improve on that but she should do so." Clowance has been cut to 12-1 from 16-1 for Epsom. Connections of Dante Stakes third Twice Over are to take their time before deciding on the Observatory colt's next target, though a drop in trip is likely. It is also reported that owner Khalid Abdulla is considering supplementing Chester Vase winner Doctor Fremantle for Epsom - where he would join Sir Michael Stoute's other representatives Tartan Bearer and Tajaaweed. The William Haggas-trained Collection, the impressive winner of a York handicap on Wednesday, could make a quick reappearance in the Listed David Wilson Homes Stakes at Goodwood on Wednesday, May 21 ahead of a possibel run in the Derby. Harry Herbert, Racing Manager to owners Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, revealed today: "We honestly have not made up our minds. We were delighted with the York result and we have known for some time that he is a pretty exciting horse. "We need to see how he has come out of the race and then decide whether we go the David Wilson Homes Stakes route and then on to the Derby, or go straight to the Derby, or whether actually a better route is to go straight to the Royal meeting (Ascot). "He was quite impressive in winning the other day. He has been working very well at home and we were disappointed with his performance first time out this year. There were good reasons for that - the combination of freshness, the ground and William quite rightly leaving a little bit to work on meant that he just blew up at Doncaster. "He was rated 80 and has won a handicap impressively and you could argue that Sir Michael Stoute’s Dante Stakes winner (Tartan Bearer) has done the same thing, albeit in a trial. Ralph Beckett is set to run Italian Group Three winner Celtic Slipper in the Listed Height Of Fashion Stakes over nearly 10 furlongs on Wednesday 21 May ahead of a possible tilt at the Italian Oaks. After breaking her maiden at Goodwood in August last year, Celtic Slipper returned to the course later that month and finished a close second to Sense Of Joy in the Group Three totescoop6 Prestige Stakes. She then followed a fine third to Spacious in Doncaster’s May Hill Stakes with a deserved victory in a Group Three contest at San Siro in Italy. Beckett revealed this morning: "Celtic Slipper will run in the Height Of Fashion Stakes, so long as the ground isn’t too quick. She has had a struggle this spring, which is why she isn’t appearing until now but we are hoping this will be a prep for the Italian Oaks." Thursday 15 May 2008Sir Michael Stoute and Ryan Moore had a quickfire Group double at York on Thursday when Tartan Bearer, a full brother to Golan, ran on well from the rear of the field of five to win the Group Two Dante Stakes, beating odds on favourite, Craven Stakes winner Twice Over. Tartan Bearer, a Leicester maiden winner on his second start last time, raced last but made up ground with a smooth run in the straight to hit the front in a race run at a decent pace. The Aidan O'Brien trained Frozen Fire also emerged to make a fight of it, but never looked like getting on top of the winner. Twice Over looked to run out of steam late on and settled for third. Peter Reynolds of owner/breeder Ballymacoll Stud told Channel 4: "I was hoping, rather than expecting. Michael has always liked the horse, but it is a big ask to win a maiden at Leicester and then come here. We have had a lot of success, we are very fortunate - Michael has done a fantastic job. "Epsom is Michael's department. His brother, Golan, didn't do very well there but he has done it very well today and that's all we can ask." Of Twice Over, Henry Cecil said: "I am not blaming the ground as all the others went on it. He came there and emptied out and he was disappointing really. "Whether he needs to come back in distance or not I don't know. It is up to the Prince, but I don't think he will run in the Derby after that." Vodafone Derby - totesport prices Curtain Call 4/1 Dermot Weld said he would decide whether to run impressive Derrinstown winner Casual Conquest in the Derby after the Irish Guineas are run. The colt is as short as 3-1 with a run for Epsom after demolishing his field on Sunday. Godolphin could run two in the Irish 2000 Guineas. Trainer Saeed Bin Suroor said: “Ibn Khaldun worked well this morning and may run in the Irish Guineas. Rio De La Plata could go there too.” York applied 5mm of water to the whole track after racing on Wednesday, when the track rode good to firm. Cape Cross filly Cape Amber was making only her second start when beaten five lengths into second by Lush Lashes in the Musidora Stakes at York on Wednesday, and trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam was delighted with her run in the Group Three. Chapple-Hyam told his website peterchapplehyam.com: “I was over the moon with her run and it will bring her on an absolute bundle. She had just started to come to herself in her last two bits of work before the race. “But that was a hell of run and she will now head straight to the Oaks. I’m sure she will end up getting at least a mile-and-a-half and she wouldn’t mind if there was a bit of cut at Epsom. “Of course, if Lush Lashes turns up in the same form as she showed at York then she will win. But Cape Amber has shown she is going to be competitive in all the good middle-distance races and I feel she is only going to get better.” Lingfield Oaks Trial winner Miracle Seeker is reported as an almost certain Oaks starter by trainer Clive Cox. She is a 25-1 chance for the race. "She's won her trial, she gets the trip, she's got a very pleasing attitude and I'm thrilled with the way she's come out of the race. I think she has every right to give it a go," the Lambourn trainer told PA Sport. Wednesday 14 May 2008Jim Bolger continues to lean towards the Curragh as the Classic venue of choice - his runaway Musidora Stakes winner Lush Lashes - like New Approach, by Epsom Derby winner Galileo - is more likely to run in the Irish Oaks than at Epsom. Trainer Jim Bolger's travelling head lad Ger Flynn said at Yrok: "The boss has just been on the phone and he says we're not going to rule anything out. At the moment the Oaks at Epsom and the Curragh are on the cards, but it will more likely be the Curragh. We won't rule the English Oaks out, we'll see how she is when we get her home. "That is her second trip over here so we need to see how much the race has taken out of her and how many kilos she has lost. She did it very easily though and Kevin was very, very happy with her. There is a good break between now and the Irish Oaks, but Epsom is only three weeks away." Peter Chapple-Hyam's Cape Amber ran well on her reappearnce, despite being five lengths down on Lush Lashes after flattening out late on, and she will surely improve for the run. Aidan O'Brien saw Moonstone well beaten, but another of his Oaks entrants scored in style in the Group Three Blue Wind Stakes at Nass in the evening. Ridden by Johnny Murtagh, Adored made all to lead home a Ballydoyle 1-2 a length and a qaurter ahead of Tiffany Diamond. Murtagh said after the race: "The filly has improved a lot from her maiden. She's a big, strong galloping filly with a lot of class. Kevin Prendergast's Marjalina, winner of the Park Express Stakes in March, tired 4f out and trailed in a disappointing last. Trainer Henry Cecil has stated that Derby favourite Twice Over will not run in tomorrow's Dante Stakes if the going is too fast. York have watered ahead of the meeting, but conditions are drying and the going is good to firm. The course will assess today whether to water again overnight. Seamus Heffernan, second jockey at Ballydoyle, is hopeful that Henrythenavigator will get the trip in the Derby. He told Setanta Sports: “If he gets the trip, he probably has more speed than any of them. There are no real rules in racing. He's a lot of speed and the key to him is fast ground, but he switches off and there's no problem settling him really. “There would be a better chance of him being a Derby horse than a six-furlong sprinter at this stage.” Of the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial won by Casual Look, Heffernann added: “They went slow, it was a bit of a false-run race. Their pacemaker lay on top of me around the bend and my lad got all unbalanced. It was a tactical race but the horse that won it is a fair horse and he was impressive. “We were hoping Washington Irving would win. It's only a trial really at the end of the day. We're hoping we can improve him between now and the Derby. “It was only his third run and he has disappointed three times - that's the way it is. You would be saying he'd be more of a Leger type. He's a late maturer and he's probably not woken up to what's going on yet. “It's hard to look at anything we have as outstanding at the moment. They need to improve stepping up to a mile-and-a-half, but they might. They're still babies and we haven't done that much with them at home.” Tuesday 13 May 2008Dante Stakes runnersGroup Two, York, Thursday 15 May 2008. 1m 2f.
The Group Two Prix Greffulhe over 2000m at Saint-Cloud on Monday was won by the Andre Fabre-trained Prospect Wells, who found a powerful rhythm under Olivier Peslier to beat the Aga Khan's Ripples by a short neck. Pierre-Yves Bureau, racing manager for owner/breeders Wertheimer Freres said: “He did it well. Olivier rode with a lot of confidence and the colt has improved a lot since his last outing. We would first like to see how he comes out of this race but there is every probability that he will run next time out in the Prix du Jockey-Club as we don't have a lot of options.” The colt's half brother Prospect Park was second in the Prix du Jockey-Club in 2004. Ripples has been cut to 40-1 from 66-1 for Epsom following the race, which layers assess as strong form. Dermot Weld's Casual Conquest is as low as 7-1 with William Hill after slamming Washington Irving in the latter event at Leopardstown on Sunday. Dermot Weld is to wait till after what has again turned out to be the crucial Derby trial, the Dante Stakes, is run at York on Thursday before deciding whether to supplement Sunday's Derrinstown winner Casual Conquest for Epsom. The supplementary fee is £75,000; the winner's prize fund on Sunday was £64,500. Immediately after the race Weld had indicated that Epsom was not an option and the colt would run in either France or Ireland. Aidan O'Brien's Kingdom Of Naples, an intended runner in the Dante, has been supported into 12-1 for Epsom from 20-1. Musidora Stakes runnersGroup Three, Wednesday, York. 1m 2f
Filed on 13 May 2008 @ 10:26
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