Royal Ascot countdown, w/c: 18 May | 25 May | 1 June | 8 June | 22 June | 29 June

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Friday 12 June 2009

The Criquette Head-trained juvenile Group One winner Full Of Gold hadn't won since landing the 2008 Prix Noailles, but regained the winning thread at Maisons-Laffitte on Thursday, beating Templestern to take a conditions event. The winner will head for the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud at the end of this month.

"She's a big filly in terms of her physique so she is only going to improve as she gets older. She certainly looks a stronger filly and you could say she's done herself almost too well since the Guineas as she's really developed," Gold told At The Races.

1000 Guineas winner Ghanaati is doing well ahead of her engagement in next Friday's Coronation Stakes. Owner Sheikh Hamdan an Maktoum's racing manager Angus Gold told At The Races: "Everyone is happy with her at home and the Coronation is a fascinating race as you get the various winners like the Irish Guineas winner and the filly who won the French Guineas (Elusive Wave) who looks a very high-class filly indeed.

"It won't be easy and our filly will have to be at the top of her game but she will improve physically as the year goes on. If we can get her there in as good a form as she was at Newmarket, they will have to go pretty quick to beat her."

Luca Cumani is likely to run his Greek import Ialysos in the Glden Jubilee Stakes rather than the King's Stand. He told PA Sport: "He's in good form and I think we're going to go for the Golden Jubilee. He did it well at Haydock [where he won the Temple Stakes] and that was pleasing to see. Fast ground would be fine for him and he has improved since that first run for us. Whether he has improved enough to win a top-class race like this, we will find out next Saturday."

Tom Dascombe is looking forward to running impressive Listed winner Don't Tell Mary in the Queen Mary Stakes. The trainer told At The Races: "It's very exciting, it's nice to have a serious chance at Ascot. She's not a horse that shows you an awful lot at home, in her work she just does what she has to.

"I was surprised the way she won first time out at Bath when she won by nearly four lengths. We took her to Beverley where I thought she might just scrape home, but again she won by four lengths.

"It's very exciting, she's clearly much better than she shows us at home and fingers crossed we get her there in one piece and she'll run her race. Both starts Richard Kingscote has just had to push her out with hands and heels, he's never had to hit her. I don't actually think she'd go any faster for that anyway."

Paul Cole reckons his Coventry Stakes runner No Hubris will improve for his recent York win. He told PA Sport: "He had been going well at home before his debut but you still have to go the racecourse and do it so that was good to see. I think he has improved again since then and I think the fast ground should suit him well.

"These races are always hard to assess as there are five or six in there that could be really good two-year-olds, we will just have to see. The horse is in good form and I'm hopeful he will run a good race."

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Thursday 11 June 2009

Johnny Murtagh has failed to have a five day ban - imposed by the Epsom stewards after his mount Frozen Fire interfered with Buccellati in last Friday's Coronation Cup - overturned. Murtagh told the Racing Post: "I thought five days was harsh, as I told the panel, and now I am going to miss two Group ones and some exciting rides. Royal Ascot is one of the biggest meetings of the year and one of my favourites.".

Godolphin have yet to decide where Coronation Cup sixth Eastern Anthem will run next. Trainer Saaed bin Suroor told PA Sport: "Eastern Anthem will improve for his run at Epsom, he is also entered in the Gold Cup and the Prince Of Wales's. We need to decide what to do with him but I expect him to come on a lot."

Aidan O'Brien has confirmed that Yeats is in good order ahead of his bid to win an unprecedented fourth Gold Cup at Royal Ascpt next week. The trainer told At The Races: "He's well at the moment. Obviously he's a year older and a year wiser than he was last year and than every year that he was before. He's fine, we are happy with him so far but like I said, he is older and wiser and he minds himself.

"He's a marvellous horse and he's one of those that you sit back in a morning and look at him because he is such a unique horse.

"We are happy with him. Obviously his first run this year was disappointing but it was in bad ground. We are hoping to get him back at Ascot and seeing him run.

"It was very soft at Navan and very early in the year. It wasn't a fast-run race, they went steady and then quickened. He had been away a few times but he was still very relaxed before that.

"To have him in top gear at that time of the year would have made it hard to get him to peak again at Ascot, so we think he has come forward since then. I wouldn't read too much into it and hopefully he will leave that well behind him."

Yorkshire-based trainer Richard Fahey reckons Albaqaa gioves him a good chance of landing yet another John Smith's Cup at York. "Albaqaa is a horse that I would be keen to run in the John Smith's Cup," he said.

"He gets the trip well and I think the race would suit him. He almost tries too hard but if they go a million miles an hour it might just help him settle better."

Fahey added of Unbreak My Heart: "Ideally, he wants soft ground. If it turned up soft on the day it would bring him into play. He gets the trip well."

Paco Boy had a foot infection after finishing fourth in the Lockinge Stakes, but has recovered and goes for Tuesday's Queen Anne Stakes. Part owner Derek Lucie-Smith told the Racing Post: "PacoBoy hung badly in Lockinge and it transpired afterwards that he had an infected off-fore hoof. He ran an incredibly brave race considering. He is fine now. He will run at Ascot provided the ground is not very firm. We pulled him out of the Jersey last year but I think it will be all right.

"We are looking forward to taking on Gladiatorus. We don't know about Main Aim, and nor does anyone else, staying a mile. I know there are a few doubters about Paco Boy staying a mile but we still have complete faith he will get it."

National Stakes winner Monsieur Chevalier has not been entered for next Tuesday's Coventry Stakes and will likely head for the Norfolk Stakes instead. Canford Cliffs is market leader for the Coventry.

Stephane Pasquier will replace Frankie Dettori aboard the Luca Cumani-trained Fantasia in Sunday's Prix de Diane. Dettori heads to Cologne to ride Peligroso in the Oppenheim Union-Rennen at Cologne.

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Wednesday 10 June 2009

Last year's Racing Post Trophy winner Crowded House, sixth in the Derby last Saturday, will have his next run in the Group One Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown next month.

Trainer Brian Meehan told brianmeehanatmanton.com: "We were very pleased with Crowded House in the Derby. As you know, things were far from straight forward after York and he was taking on the very best around having had to miss a week's preparation.

"He was fit but he was not match fit. He seems to have taken the race very well and the Eclipse is now the target."

Crowded House will lock horns with recent Sandown Group winner Cima de Triomphe, last year's Italian Derby winner now with Luca Cumani.

Sir Michael Stoute could run Main Aim, an impressive Group Three winner at Haydock recently, in the Group One Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot next week. The hot favourite for the race is likely to be Godolphin's Gladiatorus, the top-rated racehorse in the world following an impressive win in Dubai in March.

Henry II Stakes winner Geordieland pleased trainer Jamie Osborne in a gallop on Tuesday ahead of next week's Ascot Gold Cup.

Osborne told PA Sport: "Obviously we missed the Yorkshire Cup and the reason why the Henry II was never our first plan was because of its proximity to Ascot. My heart was a little bit in my mouth but I have to say I'd be fairly confident the race hadn't left its mark.

"He did his first proper bit of work since Sandown this morning and it was as good as I've ever seen him work.

"I just hope they don't get too much rain - the bits I can control I'm happy about. If ever there's a place that can take rain it's Ascot.

"I'm very happy. My fears about Sandown being too close to Ascot have just eroded gradually over the last week or so and it is no longer a concern. He'll do one more gallop before the race but he's pretty much there now. He's been second in the Gold Cup twice before and hasn't got that much to find."

The Luca Cumani-trained Riggins is likely to miss the Royal Hunt Cup after hsi victory in a Goodwood Handicap at the end of last month left its mark on the five-year-old.

Connections have yet to decide on a target for Oaks second Midday. Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Khalid Abdulla, told PA Sport: "No decision has yet been made as to where she goes next. She's in the Ribblesdale, she'll be in the Prix de Malleret (Saint-Cloud, June 28) but she's not in the Irish Oaks at the moment. She's come out of the race well, she ate up and she's in good form."

Henry Candy has paid tribute to his three-year-old sprintr Amour Propre, saying: "I still think he is one of the best sprinters I've had. He has a very different way of doing things than Airwave and Kyllachy who were very slow out of the stalls and relaxed early on in their races.

"This horse is totally different, he's very much on the go from the start. It's very hard to compare them because their style of running is so different.

"I said last year when he was breaking those track records that he needed it fast. Now he will probably handle it a bit softer but he would never go on soft or heavy."

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Tuesday 9 June 2009

The Jeremy Noseda-trained Sans Frontieres will miss the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot next week after meeting a training setback. Connections now look likely to concentrate on the colt's four year old career.

James Fanshawe has yet to decide whether Queen Elizabeth Stakes third Spacious will run at Royal Ascot. The trainer told At The Races: "It was her first run of the season and Johnny said she didn't handle the track but she has come out of the race fine. She is in the Windsor Forest on the Wednesday next week and I would love to have a go. The original plan was to go to the Ridgewood Pearl and then to Royal Ascot but the ground was bottomless. She has now had her run and I hope to go to Ascot but we'll have to see how she is in the week."

Derby winner Sea The Stars is to be handed an official rating of 124, the same as New Approach received last year. That rating is expected to increase as the Cape Cross colt drops back to 10f and races against his elders, but with his style of racing making it unlikely we will see him win by a large margin, the quality of opposition he races against could determine his eventual rating.

Christophe Lemaire thinks Prix du Jockey-Club winner Le Havre could run well in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. The jockey told At The Races: "It was a great performance from Le Havre and he really showed his class so we were all very happy. Jean-Claude Rouget and his team have done a great job and it's been a fantastic year for the stable with four Group One winners.

"The horse had a very good finish in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains where he finished second and the horse is very relaxed and settles very well.

"So for me the trip was not a problem and I just tried to give him a nice race without any trouble. You know when you have the class you can run any race. Yesterday the pace was quite fast and he still stayed the trip, so we can think he would also stay in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe."

Prix Saint-Alary winner Stacelita goes in the Prix de Diane, and Lemaire continued: "She did it very easily with a lot of confidence at Longchamp and I think she will have a great chance in the Diane. We hope for rain at Chantilly as this will help her a lot but I'm sure on good ground she can still do something good."

Of his chances at Royal Ascot, Lemaire added: "Elusive Wave [set to run in Friday's Coronation Stakes] is a top-class filly and as a two-year-old she was already very good. She confirmed that this year in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and she's a very easy ride with a lot of speed from the start.

"She stays, she's a fighter and for me she is the right type and has the ability for Ascot. We are hoping for a great performance from her.

"As a two-year-old Never On Sunday [the Prix d'Ispahan winner set to line up in the Prince of Wales's Stakes on Wednesday] was a little bit of a baby so we had to put the blinkers on but once we took them off the horse understood what it was all about.

"Now he's improving a lot and in the Prix d'Ispahan he finished very strongly on the inside. He's a very consistent horse and I'm sure he'll be in the first three at Ascot."

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Monday 8 June 2009

Prix du Jockey-Club winner Le Havre is a 12-1 chance for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe after his Chatilly defeat of Fuisse and Westphalia on Sunday. He is trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, as is Group Three Prix de Royaumont winner Quetsche, who is likely to run in the Prix de Malleret at Saint-Cloud.

Investec Derby winner Sea The Stars' next run is weather dependant, with the Irish Derby likely if the rain holds off, and the Eclipse Stakes an alternative.

Trainer John Oxx told At The Races: "The Irish Derby is the obvious next race for him but he's dependant on goodish ground and the weather here has been bad for two and a half years. If he didn't run there because of the ground he'd probably run in the Eclipse.

"I see him as a horse for the top mile and a quarter races like the Eclipse, the Juddmonte International, the Irish Champion Stakes and the Champion Stakes at Newmarket."

Of the Breeders' Cup, Oxx added: "The Breeders' Cup this year and last year is slightly different to previous years because it is run on a Polytrack-type surface. I would never ask a three-year-old to run on the traditional American dirt but obviously the new surface is a bit more tempting.

"When Sinndar won the Arc it was good to firm and it can go either way, so we just have to see how the year goes.

"We'll have to make a decision whether we will prepare him for the Arc, but then we might have to take him out because of the ground. We might just make a decision we're not going to go for it."

Look Here was two noses away from winning the Coronation Cup on Friday. Of future plans for the Hernando filly, trainer Ralph Beckett told PA Sport: "We're very pleased with her and she has come out of the race as we hoped she would. We'll make plans, see how we are and when we're happy with her we'll run her again.

"She's bound to come on a bit as it was her first run of the year and I know she had a racecourse gallop beforehand, but it's hardly the same thing.

"First and foremost we'll be going wherever Sea The Stars isn't! I'm quite happy to take on anything else but I'm not sure I want to take on him at all.

"The Eclipse would be a possible but it could well be that we wait for the King George. The Pretty Polly would be a possible as well but we'll see how we go.

"I wouldn't mind dropping her back to a mile and a quarter at all as she showed a proper turn of speed on Friday so that would hold no fears and the Curragh would suit her. It may be that we choose the Pretty Polly over the Eclipse, depending on who looks like they are going to Sandown. Perhaps the Pretty Polly would be a suitable option.

"I would be keen to run her in one or the other of the King George or the Eclipse, with maybe the Yorkshire Oaks after that. She's more resilient this year and the racecourse gallop we did at Salisbury was on very fast ground and she came out of that very well, so the ground would hold fewer fears than it did 12 months ago."