Equinties - 1000 for Hollie

Gm Equinauts

It’s the time of year of where some of the nicest 2yo’s who, having had ample time to develop, are unleashed by their respective yards.

George Scott allowed WEST ACRE his late debut yesterday and considering he was a fair bit off the pace until the line, finished the race in exciting style. Good horse.

There are some other yards running rockets this week or next which we know about and will make you aware of.

Today’s most interesting horse running is Beckett’s debutant CATHEDRAL for Kia (Amo Racing). No doubt connections have big hopes for her - she was a 110k yearling into 800k as a breezer in France. Her dam is a half to BLUESTOCKING and we’re quite sure she’ll be present in the markets for next years big 3yo races.

With Beckett due to run another 1000 Guineas hopeful this week, it makes sense to feature a column on 1000 Guineas prospects in tomorrow’s newsletter. Keep reading!

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

1000 UP

The big news from racing yesterday was that Hollie Doyle, one of the top jockeys in the current crop, reached 1000 winners after riding LEYHAIMUR to success at Goodwood.

She has been a notable pilot in British racing for a while now, forming partnerships with BRADSELL, TRUESHAN, NASHWA and OUTBOX, all of whom saw her pick up Group 1 victories.

Horse racing really is great when it comes to this. It’s one of the few sports where men and females compete on equal terms, and days like yesterday remind us to celebrate this fact.

Doyle isn’t known as a female jockey, she’s simply a brilliant jockey and to that the 1000 wins testifies. She gets her fair share of pelters from punters who have lost money on her, but who hasn’t had that (cc Kieran Shoemark)?

Her and Tom Marquand really are the jockey power couple of our time, so congratulations to Hollie for this achievement.

SEASON ENDERS

Two notable horses from this year’s summer Flat racing won’t be seen again this season after suffering setbacks.

The first is CRYSTAL BLACK, one of the ante-post favourites for the Melbourne Cup, as he has suffered an infection at the wrong time.

It was all a bit weird when he didn’t appear in the Melbourne Cup entries yesterday morning, but all became clear later in the day when trainer Gerry Keane said: “He's finished now for the year and we'll give him a good, long break over the winter and bring him back next year.

"He had a low blood count and got an abscess. We thought it was maybe a tooth, so we had to lance it, and it would not be fair on him to try to rush him for Melbourne after that."

The other horse who will be away from the track for the foreseeable is HAATEM, which is a true shame.

He raced nine times as a juvenile before chasing home his stablemate ROSALLION in the Irish Guineas and then winning the Jersey at Ascot. His CV is one of pure grit.

However, having not run in the Prix Jacques Le Marois due to James Doyle feeling something on his run to the start, he will have the rest of the year to rest and recover.

Richard Brown, the owner’s racing adviser, said: "We’ve got to the bottom of what was troubling him that day and the good news is it’s nothing serious. But it would be a race against time to get him back for the obvious end-of-year targets so we’ve drawn stumps and hope to have him back in top form for the big mile races next season."

A LOOK AHEAD

Ascot’s £100,000 Lavazza Stakes over 1m4f at 14.10 Saturday is the race under our microscope for this weekend’s A Look Ahead.

FRENCH DUKE heads the market for, yes, those now very familiar blue, gold and red colours of Wathnan Racing. He got off the mark at Goodwood lto when justifying favouritism off 88 and has been raised to 97 which is a big hike in the handicap. He’s by SEA THE STARS and runs like it too - head down and sticks his neck out. He has clearly taken time to come to hand and who’s to say where his ceiling is? One thing for sure is he won’t wont the ground too soft on the day. He needs fast ground.

GOODWOOD ODYSSEY won at his namesake course two weeks ago, though he already had two wins to his name before then. He is one of two Menuisier has entered in the race.

He beat the now 92-rated SEA THE THUNDER (who was well-backed and already had a run under him) on debut and then won on handicap debut earlier this year. By ULYSSES from the family of the two-time Group 3 winner BALLET CONCERTO, there’s plenty to like especially if the rain comes and the ground goes soft.

CITY OF DELIGHT, like GOODWOOD ODYSSEY, is from the David Menuisier stable and is seeking a five-timer! When will his run of successes end? Probably this weekend.

The last run saw him beat a fairly exposed HOT FUSS (who was second to DALLAS STAR, the Ballysax winner, by half a length in a Bath maiden last year), so this does look like a big step up in class.

KAMBOO ran in this year’s Epsom Derby for Abdulla Al Mansoori and Richard Hughes but, unsurprisingly, finished 11th of 16. He put that behind him two starts after to win in the Racing League when well-backed, and with just a five-pound penalty to shoulder. He is of obvious interest.

THE REVEREND represents some big operations. Tony Bloom, Ian McAleavy, Patrick Veitch (we assume) and William Haggas. Those are some big names to impress, but, despite the market support, he he hasn’t done it. He doesn’t look the biggest horse, quite slight in frame and always seems to bump into horses visibly bigger than him,

SOLOMON is next in the market and is a half-brother to the 2022 Melrose Handicap winner SOULCOMBE who has since gone to Australia and finished second in the Melbourne Cup.

Plenty of people (and the market) thought it was clever planning from the yard to get him to win an apprentice handicap before running un-penalised at the Shergar Cup, but fifth was all he could manage. With a bit more of a rest between races, he might be able to put that behind him and run well off 92.

At the bigger prices, MACDUFF steps into handicap company for the first time off a mark of 104 having run in Pattern company over the last four races. His form from last year’s Royal Lodge is working out well as GHOSTWRITER chased home CITY OF TROY in both the Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte while AL MUSMAK and CAPULET have won Group 3 and Listed contests respectively.

MACDUFF has two big entries for Saturday but this race perhaps looks the one where he has the chance to finally get his head back in front and for the first time this season. He is brilliantly bred with KINGMAN in the immediate family dam side.

Verdict: There is some rain pending in Britain and that would impede the improving FRENCH DUKE and play into the hooves of GOODWOOD ODYSSEY. That said, the class horse in the race is MACDUFF who is very interesting now he’s been gelded. If he was thinking too much about his racing before hand, this might sort hi out and if he runs to his best, he can get back into the winners enclosure.

RISK ON

As per the intro, the focus the next few weeks will be on the rocket 2yo’s who have been kept hidden to mature while the earlier, more forward types have battled the season out. Today there are two supposedly very good 2yo’s to make note of in I MAXIMUS for Hughes (beaten on debut by our bet in the Cole horse) and 800k Amo purchase CATHEDRAL who will be a 1000 Guineas hope for next year. That’s a solid shortie double for the pro’s.

The other, more attractive priced play is:

17.45 HERECOMESTHEBEAR

This lad beat a Fellowes gamble lto thanks to the mud. He has so much to find out ratings with the Burkie fave but with the weights and ground in his favour, he might just be able to over turn the hot pot at 7/1 with several books offering 3 places.

Small 4/1 treble on the two shorties and HERECOMESTHEBEAR to place top 3.

Become a paying subscriber of Premium to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content.

Already a paying subscriber? Sign In.

A subscription gets you:

• • The weekender edition (Mon-Fri still free)
• • The weekends best bets
• • That warm fuzzy feeling inside knowing the intern gets fed
• • Only £1 a week!