Equinties - triumphant Troy

Gm Equinauts

There were many who weren’t so enamoured by CITY OF TROY’s performance at Sandown on Saturday. The effort appeared laboured, only marginally keeping himself in front of those closing in on him…

In the mud.

The horses behind him a no slouches, in fact they’re proper, proper race horses.

It takes a special horse to beat them in slop like that with such a fast ground pedigree.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

TRIUMPHANT TROY

CITY OF TROY joined an elite club on Saturday as he became the first horse since GOLDEN HORN to do the Derby-Eclipse double.

Was it stylish? Not really, and the numbers read negatively towards the performance as seen below:

However, as everyone should bear in mind, the ground was definitely against him and interestingly, he changed his lead multiple times in the final few furlongs so obviously was never settled into stride.

The ground debate was something that John Magnier was keen to talk about post-race and that’s why the son of JUSTIFY will be aimed at the Breeders’ Cup.

His performance certainly sparked up plenty of debate on Racing X, and it probably wasn’t what we were expecting, but he is very interesting going forward.

Why? Well, he was pushed out by the bookies for his next potential races, so if you want to back him, you’ll probably get a fair enough price….

But ff you want to take him on, just be careful if it’s quick ground because we think he’ still a monster on ‘his' ground.

INCREDIBLE TRAINING PERFORMANCE

Handicap winners don’t usually interest us when it comes to reviewing the weekend, but we need to mention the victory of CICERO’S GIFT in the Coral Challenge….especially given he was the only one to bloody beat our 12/1 pick!

On his first start for 382 days, Billy Loughnane guided the four-year-old by MUHAARAR home to a nice success over newsletter pick HOLLOWAY BOY and PEROTTO, form that looks very, very solid.

The horse picked up a setback after he ran in last year’s Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes - a race he was 12/1 for - so we haven’t got to the bottom of him yet, and based on his Goodwood win from last year, he could easily return to those Group races again.

Hills said: "He's a very special horse. When he won his second start at Wolverhampton he beat a horse called Docklands giving him nine pounds and that horse is now rated 115, so he's got tremendous ability.

"It wasn't really my plan to come here. The race at Goodwood was perfect for him but then Dad rang me up the other day and thought it would be very hard going in there and winning that race first time out. 

"He suggested giving him a spin round here, but the fact he's gone and won is full testament to the horse. He's not fully wound up and to win it off top weight is a tremendous achievement."

More: https://www.racingpost.com/news/reports/astonished-charlie-hills-could-target-sussex-stakes-with-ciceros-gift-after-colt-shrugs-off-382-day-absence-to-win-at-sandown-aqKkX5M8D4fB/

DEAUVILLE HIGHLIGHTS

PUCHKINE won the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat for Jean Claude Rouget. The yard also trained the second home, HAVANA CIGAR, who would have given HAVANA GREY an important win in the 7 furlong contest.

SHOULDVEBEENARING, by HAVANA GREY, won the Group 3 Prix de Ris-Orangis. The admirable Hannon campaigner led a British trifecta, with ELECTRIC STORM for James Tate and SHARTASH for Archie Watson filled the places.

FAIR ANGELLICA won the Listed contest for Richard Hughes. Ryan Moore in the plate to cajole the HARRY ANGEL filly home.

WEEKEND EYE-CATCHERS

IT AIN’T TWO - FRIDAY 14.30 SANDOWN

Two nice horses fought out the finish of the Listed Dragon Stakes on Friday, but it was AESTERIUS that got the better of IT AIN’T TWO.

The pair pulled well-clear of the field and both are unexposed juveniles, so that is already a positive about their profiles.

IT AIN’T TWO is a half-sister to BALON D’OR, a horse that Hugo Palmer also trains, and he was highly thought-of last year but didn’t quite translate that onto the track.

It’s therefore telling that they have this horse and she holds a Group 2 entry for the July meeting this weekend. Whether she goes is another question, but she’s certainly interesting for the rest of this season.

PUROSANGUE - SATURDAY 13.50 SANDOWN

We’ve had a long and volatile relationship with PUROSANGUE. Ever since we caught a glimpse of him on the gallops before he’d even sniffed a race track, we knew he’d be pretty smart. We gambled him on debut (and still couldn’t get him lower than 5’s) and then followed him off a cliff after that, sticking with him on Saturday.

Saturday’s run in the Group 3 Coral Charge was probably a career-best effort as he finished second to MAKAROVA and ahead of LIVE IN THR DREAM. Conditions probably suited him as he won on soft last year, but his effort down the outside of the field was admirable considering he came from the rear.

He’ll be worth following going forward, especially over 6f on soft ground!

TOO BOSSY FOR US - SATURDAY 14.05 HAYDOCK

TOO BOSSY FOR US is slowly turning into a nice sort for Kevin Philippart de Foy and he showed good health when second to the impressive ALIGN THE STARS at Haydock on Saturday.

By GOLDEN HORN, Saturday was his first start at 1m6f having won over 1m2f and finished third over 1m4f recently.

Maybe the trip will be reviewed after Saturday, but he comes from a stamina heavy pedigree and he stayed-on nicely for pressure.

He’ll continue to get better with age and could be one to watch in the staying handicaps this season.

RISK ON

Why isn’t Windsor on tonight!? It’s bad racing every where else and the advice is tools down if you don’t fancy the smallest of speccy plays on:

16.50 TORONET

Mega-drifter but has spent all his life in the mud. Pedigree says needs quick, gets it today. Needs to be off - trainer and jockey combo says more inclined to be given quiet ride, but strange things can happen in racing. 33/1 small bet in a weak race.

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