Equinties - London nights

Gm Equinauts

Sandown delivered everything last night -surprises, confirmation of ability, promise and plots to look forward to in the future.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUND UP

LONDON NIGHTS

Sandown card yesterday is often referred to as ‘London’s night at the races’.
It takes place at a track that has good transport links (when they are cooperating), the card is fit for on good Saturday afternoon, and the time of the year usually means the track is bathed in sunshine. Glorious.

So, what did we learn from yesterday evening’s events?

Let’s start with TRAWLERMAN and ALMAQAM, two horses who have Group 1 targets to attend to later this season.

TRAWLERMAN is just a proper warrior. He travels, he quickens up, and he turns the earth when he gallops. He won the Group 3 Henry II Stakes easily yesterday, and while the field may not have been vintage, it was still his first run in the UK since finishing fifth in the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup in April.

It’s full steam ahead to the Gold Cup from here, and his second to KYPRIOS in last season’s renewal is well-documented. While the likes of ILLINOIS, SWEET WILLIAM, and JAN BRUEGHEL could give him a nice race at the Royal Meeting, he is probably a more established star. 5/1 for the Gold Cup.

Elsewhere, Ed Walker has always thought plenty of ALMAQAM, and he improved nicely from his seasonal reappearance to land the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes.

The thing that has set him back is the ground. Connections ran him in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes last year, but it was a quick surface. When he got soft ground in the Group 2 Prix Dollar, he very nearly beat JAYAREBE.

So, with slightly rain-softened ground last night, he was able to show his true ability, and this preference for slower conditions is probably why he received an entry for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe recently.

He now has a win over 1m2f under his belt, but this could give him a nice springboard onto further success over longer distances.

His trainer, Ed Walker, said: "Ryan said last year at Longchamp that he'd definitely get a mile and a half, but I explained to him his pedigree doesn't suggest that.

"I always thought we'd work back from the Champion Stakes rather than the Arc but I stuck him in it because of what Ryan said, and Oisin has just said exactly the same thing.

"I've never hidden how much I think about this horse. The ground is absolutely key, and it'll be hard to know what to do with him through the summer, but good ground is probably as quick as we want it to be.

"It was a big day for him, and for me and the team. We all believe a lot in this horse and I've not held back in that. You tee yourself up for a big fall, but we skipped a couple of Group 1 races to get him back winning today and thank God he did."

If you were suitably impressed last night, you can back him at 66/1 for the Arc.

Walkers time in the winners enclosure didn’t end there though, for his 9yo AFEET ALAIN scorched home easily after getting an easy lead in the last. The last race featured the biggest eye-catcher of the night too in Menuisier’s

NO ASCOT

The other two Sandown Listed winners last night were a couple of youngsters: OPERA BALLO and ANTHELIA. The former won the Heron Stakes and the latter won the National Stakes.

Looking at previous winners of both races, it’s natural for them to head to Royal Ascot on their next run. It makes sense because, obviously, if they’ve won a competitive Listed race before the Royal Meeting, they may as well chance their arm in Berkshire the following month.

ENCHANTING EMPRESS, ELITE STATUS, ALMAQAM, MY PROSPERO, MOSTAHDAF and more have done it recently, however, this year’s two winners are likely to buck that trend.

That’s right, OPERA BALLO and ANTHELIA might skip Royal Ascot next month despite their impressive efforts.
Starting with Godolphin’s son of GHAIYYATH, yesterday was a bit of a litmus test. His two wins ahead of yesterday came on the all-weather, and he bombed out in the Craven.

Well, he put the doubts aside yesterday to win nicely. As for his next target, there is one thing that will determine the race. Ground.
Alex Merriam, assistant trainer to Charlie Appleby, said: 

"He settled much better than at Newmarket last time and it's good to see him get it done. He's very much a work in progress and the hood has helped a lot.

"I'm not quite sure what Charlie has planned, but he appreciated a bit of juice in the ground, and I wouldn't say Royal Ascot is a definite at this stage."

As for ANTHELIA, the bargain buy who is now unbeaten in three, a trip to Newmarket for the Empress Stakes could be next.

On the horse, Rod Millman said: "We were going to buy one for about £50,000 and she was one we picked out, but I thought she wasn't really worth £50,000. We were going to buy something else, but she was walking round the ring and there were only little bids on her, so I just got her for £6,000 – she's worth just a little bit more than that now!

"We didn't want to get involved in a duel in the front and the main thing today was to get some black type. As it turned out, she's better than I thought she was."

THE DRAW

And finally, we got the draw for Sunday’s Prix du Jockey Club yesterday, and look away now, loyal Charlie Fellowes fans – LUTHER is drawn by the burger vans!

That’s right, the French 2000 Guineas fourth has stall 13 to navigate, and by Fellowes’ own words, “It’s not ideal, but it’s not disastrous.”

Well, how “not disastrous” is it? Over the last 10 years, the two highest draws to win the race came in 2015 (NEW BAY, 13) and 2023 (ACE IMPACT, 8).

So, there is precedent to say LUTHER can win from this stall, but the two horses who have won from high numbers are animals of extreme quality. Is LUTHER that good? The jury is still out.

The rest of the winning stalls since 2015 read as follows: 3, 2, 2, 3, 5, 6, 1, 7.
It seems that the likes of LUTHER, CUALIFICAR (10), and RIDARI (9) have uphill battles, whereas the likes of CAMILLE PISARRO (1), SINILEO (4), and DETAIN (6) are loving life.

It should be an intriguing race, and one we are looking forward to.

RISK ON

We might play a couple of horses today, they will be posted on X @equinties

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