Equinties - royally good start

Gm Equinauts

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Salisbury’s card was looking really juicy and there was a horse due to run there we’ve been waiting to back. Oh well… we wait!

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

ROYALLY GOOD START

The good start to PALACE PIER’s career as a stallion has been quite interesting to follow so far this season.

Let’s start with the money it costs to use his services. When he first went to stud in 2022, he cost £55,000 a pop, but in 2024 he reduced to £45,000, and this year he cost just £32,000 a visit. This is fairly normal when it comes to stallions before they get to see their progeny on the track, but a £23,000 drop off is substantial.

Anyway, that £32,000 looks like a great price, and it’s sure to change for 2026, as his juveniles have hit the ground running.

His early success with juveniles doesn’t come as a complete shock, but there is an element of surprise about it. After all, he won his Group 1s at three and four, and while he did win twice as a juvenile, they were in August and September of his two-year-old season. They were also just standard novices.

Furthermore, PALACE PIER is a half-brother to MY CLOUD and CASTLE WAY. The former didn’t race at two, and while the latter did, he improved 10-15lbs from two to three.

Anyway, he is going at some rate. A BIT OF SPIRIT narrowly won the Group 3 Solario Stakes, MORRIS DANCER beat A BIT OF SPIRIT in the Listed Stonehenge Stakes, ROYAL FIXATION looks very special for Ed Walker based on her Group 2 Lowther Stakes success, and PACIFICA PIER looks promising for Godolphin.

That’s a good CV already in the book, and his season could get a lot better. Just think about the horses we’ve mentioned there. A BIT OF SPIRIT could take in the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes, MORRIS DANCER holds an entry for the Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster as well as the Royal Lodge and Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes, and ROYAL FIXATION has the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes in her sights.

That’s without mentioning horses like GOLDEN PALACE, a Richard Fahey-trained filly who is also entered for the Cheveley Park and Group 3 Sirenia Stakes (though that is this Saturday). If she obliges at Salisbury on Thursday, she could book her ticket for a big Group race swing. SIRIUS A is also entered for Saturday’s Sirenia.

STARMAN may be getting all the plaudits for his crop of juveniles this season, and that’s fair enough, but PALACE PIER is also hitting the ground running, and he is not done yet. Mark our words.

HOW FIT?

We briefly touched on KALPANA and her Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe bid yesterday, and as we all know, Andrew Balding is prepping her for France via Saturday’s Group 3 September Stakes, a race she won last year.

This weekend will be her first run for 42 days, and while that isn’t a long break, she has definitely had an easy time of things at home before Kempton, so there will be fitness to work on.

So, one can imagine with a statement like that, she could be exposed to losing on Saturday. Yes, she has plenty of upsides this weekend (her class, she has no penalty, and her mares’ allowance), but there is also the big question mark of whether she can still win while needing the run.

Are there any horses entered for the race that could cause her some worries? Well, the first port of call to go to is GIAVELLOTTO, because he is a Group 1 winner who just loves races at 1m4f-1m6f, and he is rated 120, so he has plenty of ability.
He also finished third to KYPRIOS in last year’s Irish St Leger, and he won the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase in December. So, yes, he is very good.

But will GIAVELLOTTO fall into the same category as KALPANA, as it’s been 92 days since his last run, and there will be bigger targets for him later this season? Could he need it?

Offering a bit more clarity on the situation, Marco Botti said: "When we missed this year's Princess of Wales's Stakes, he didn’t have many options considering the plan is to go back to Hong Kong and this race fits in quite well. Obviously we’re facing strong opposition in Kalpana and it looks a good field for a Group 3, but we think he’s in good shape.

"You always hope to find an easy spot, but this isn’t the case. On the other hand, we’ve been training for this race so there’s no point in us changing plan and the ground could be softer somewhere else.

"When you look back at his form he always runs well fresh, so I’m not concerned about his fitness. Ideally we want a genuine pace, we don’t want it to be a two-furlong dash. We’ve got him pretty fit. Whether he’s good enough to beat Kalpana, we’ll just have to find out."

It’s certainly interesting that Bottti is “not concerned about his fitness” and that he has been “training for this race”. Obviously, there’s nothing quite like race fitness, but GIOVELLOTTO has had this race in mind for a while, whereas KALPANA is using this as a clear stepping stone.

So, maybe the KALPANA camp will have to seriously worry about Botti’s contender this weekend, and even the potentially fitter rivals of ARABIAN CROWN, ABSURDE, and CANDLEFORD could cause a few issues. This won’t be plain sailing.

THE AMERICAN DREAM

We saw some great race planning on the weekend. It was so good, it made us wonder why more UK-based trainers didn’t try to have a go.

We are, of course, talking about WIMBLEDON HAWKEYE winning the Grade 1 Nashville Derby, scooping up £887,840 for his troubles. What a prize that is for a horse who had shown limitations at Group 1 level over here in the UK!

That may be a bit harsh, but so far this season, the KAMEKO colt had failed to find the winners’ enclosure, though he was pitched into some decent races, a list that includes the Craven, the Guineas, the Dante, the King Ed VII, the Princess Of Wales’s, and the Gordon. That’s a bolshy campaign, and to only be beaten by more than three-and-a-half lengths on one occasion is pretty impressive.

In many ways, he deserved the Nashville Derby purely based on this season’s campaign, let alone the ability of the horse. This does bring us back to the top line, though. WIMBLEDON HAWKEYE has, very much under the radar, had a brilliant season for all connected to the horse, and he has now made his owners just that little bit richer.

So, when you’ve got a Group 2/3 three-year-old horse at home who simply can’t get a look in over here – the likes of ROYAL PLAYWRIGHT, GREEN STORM, PALLADIUM, and ARABIAN CROWN – it does beg the question as to why you wouldn’t at least have a look at such a valuable (and winnable) race if you physically have the correct horse for the job.

Anyway, James Owen is obviously on Cloud 9 right now, and he wants to keep the American dream going, as he said: “This win opens up other doors in the US for him as we're now looking at the Breeders’ Cup Turf. We feel that a sharp mile and a half around Del Mar will suit him as it’s a tight track and he likes turns, and also fast ground, which it usually is out there.

"He won’t run again until then as we’re not going to sneak another race in at Newmarket or anywhere else.

"Frankie was in great form and had four winners the following day. He gave our horse a great ride as he had a bad draw [12 of 12] and it’s a tricky track as there's a dog-leg down the back. But he’s a master around there.

"We went out in Nashville after the win and hit a few music bars. What an amazing place to go. I don’t think the place ever sleeps."

He’s now 10/1 for the Breeders’ Cup Turf over a mile and a half. He may not be the classiest horse to run in the race, but he’s pretty consistent, and he clearly handles American racing!

RISK ON

Back on the scoreboard in a BIG way yesterday, we love the slop!

Today we have put together a speccy slop acca paying 25/1 for premium subscribers only, click the link below to subscribe and support our newsletter!

As for singles, we like:

18.15 VICTOR CEE

Was smashed off the boards last time out and put the race to bed easily. We think he can follow up in ground he’ll love. Small bet today as we have bad luck backing fave’s from this yard. 5/2.

We’ll also play a small ew single on the 20/1 shot as featured in the 4th leg of the place acca below as we think she’s finally got her ideal conditions!

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