25/09/24
An exciting autumn campaign beckons, starting with Newmarket this week where we hope to have a good few runners, including two or three high-profile ones.ANGELO BUONARROTI is set to tackle the Royal Lodge and I think the step up to a mile will really suit him. He shaped with plenty of promise to be beaten only three lengths in the Coventry at Royal Ascot on debut for his previous yard and won well on first run for us at York last month. Although he showed a lot of speed, he galloped out strongly and has ample stamina in his pedigree. Group 1 entries next month don’t look misplaced on what he’s showing us at home.
I’m keen to let TASK FORCE take his chance in the Joel Stakes. It hasn’t quite worked out for him this year but he’s run to a good standard all season and is pleasing me in his work - enough to think he’s capable of winning a race like this if things fall right for him.
FAIR POINT should go well in the Rosemary if there’s sufficient cut in the ground. She loved the soft at Ascot last time and is an improving filly when conditions are in her favour. We would like to get some black type for her, hence the move up to Listed company.
TABITI looks a high-class prospect after winning both her starts, most recently in the Group 3 Dick Poole at Salisbury two weeks ago. We had her in the Rockfel but that may come a shade too soon so she’s more likely to wait for the Oh So Sharp or Fillies’ Mile here next month.
PONIROS has been left in the Cambridgeshire but will probably be balloted out as things stand and sticking to 1m4f for the Old Rowley Cup here next month looks a better fit for him.
I’m really keen for MORTLAKE to go for the 0-90 handicap over the Cambridgeshire course and distance. The 2lb exemption clause allows him to drop back in class off his 92 rating so it’s a good opportunity, especially as his work has improved of late.
WHISKEY PETE doesn’t have a Newmarket entry but he’s in two races at Epsom and one at Haydock - wherever he goes he would have a good chance if the ground is soft.
Epsom on Sunday is next on the agenda for ANNIVERSARY following his debut success at HQ last month. The mile conditions race looks ideal for him at this stage of his development. He has a Group 1 Futurity entry at Doncaster in a month’s time, but it’s all about next year with him.
The following weekend it’s still the plan for KINROSS to go for the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp. The remarkable old boy has come out of his recent Doncaster win in good shape and, after France, he’ll be aimed at the Champions Sprint at Ascot.
It may be a last-minute decision whether BLUESTOCKING is supplemented for the Arc. There would need to be juice in the ground for her to run - soft conditions for the Prix Vermeille last time were ideal - also that we’re satisfied with her wellbeing at the time. After knocking on the door last year, it’s great that she’s already won two Group 1s this season.
Also bound for a cross-Channel trip next week is DOHA, who we’ve got earmarked for the Prix Dahlia at Saint-Cloud. She should appreciate the step back up to ten furlongs after her excellent second, conceding weight, to a high-class rival at Sandown last time.FOREST FAIRY, our Cheshire Oaks winner, has returned in good shape from a summer break and is pencilled in for the Beckford Stakes at Bath next month. It’s a Listed event over 1m6f and both the drop back in grade and step up in trip should suit her.Also with an imminent Listed target is ZOUM ZOUM, for whom I have the Guisborough Stakes at Redcar in mind. He hasn’t quite had the ground soft enough so far this season and we’ve kept him back for this time of year when conditions will hopefully be more in his favour.
He’s also in the Challenge Stakes at Newmarket, along with GREY’S MONUMENT, who put up a good weight-carrying performance when winning a competitive Ascot handicap earlier this month.
QIRAT, another good-class handicap winner last time, holds an entry in Ascot’s Challenge Cup on Saturday week, but might go back up to a mile and wait for the Balmoral there on Champions’ Day.
Solario runner-up MATAURI BAY could go to Newmarket next for the Autumn Stakes, a race that looks a good fit for STANHOPE GARDENS given he’s a late foal and still quite immature.
One horse who won’t be running again this year though is Irish Oaks heroine YOU GOT TO ME. She’s had a long and busy season dining at the top table and deserves a holiday. She’ll come back here around mid-December and be trained for the obvious 1m4f races. Her pedigree gives me hope that she will improve again as a four-year-old.