Sagaciously
A beautiful morning if slightly chilly here at Headquarters but the slight overnight frost and some dew in the ground this morning should ensure the ground starts just on the slow side for the Guineas meeting today. The weather looks like it will be gradually getting warmer next week and that will be very welcome for both the staff and the horses. We will be very busy this morning with many owners coming to visit. Andy and Julie White who have a share in Trip To Paris are here to see the Poet’s Voice colt they have an interest in that we recently purchased at the Craven Breeze Up Sales. Andrew Bengough stayed with us overnight as did Mark and Sophie Little and they are all involved with Gabrielle who ran well at Newmarket recently. Shaun and Emma Patrick are also here with their daughter Katie. Chris and Carol Kilroy are coming to La Grange too to see their filly Sparkle and we may have other owners dropping in to see us too later in the morning.
We have two runners at Goodwood today and we have two runners at Newmarket tomorrow. Sagaciously has improved for her debut at Lingfield where she ran a promising second but we are under no illusions to how difficult the task is for her today. She needs to improve significantly to trouble the market leaders, the official rating have her twenty pounds inferior to the favourite. She does have the benefit of a recent run which a lot of the field do not and we would be delighted if she could grab some black type. Rock ‘N Red runs in the last race and we are dropping her back in trip, she has been showing a little more speed at home and I am looking forward to running her on turf, the ground was terrible on her only previous try on it. It is a competitive race but we are taking three pounds off her back and she has each way claims.
Unfortunately I was the underbidder on a beautiful Le Havre colt who was top lot at the Guineas Breeze Up Sale yesterday, he ended up being bought by Tom Goff for 300,000 Guineas. We did buy a First Defence colt who looks like a nice two year old type and I look forward to running him in the near future. We now have five Breeze Up purchases at La Grange and I am pleased with them all.
The 2000 Guineas does not seem to contain the strength in depth that it can do in some seasons. Air Force Blue has reportedly been pleasing connections at home and his Dewhurst win over the reopposing Massaat was scintillating. He seemed to improve as the season progressed and he should get away with the slight ease in the ground. A lot happens between two and three but Marcel could be interesting given he enjoys some ease in the ground, he beat Johannes Vermeer in the Racing Post and that horse just held off Stormy Antartic at Saint Cloud, unlike the Craven winner he lacks a recent run however but the stable are bullish on his chances. Hugo Palmer is also very keen on Galileo Gold and he is a smart colt but he will have to step up to beat the favourite. Massaat has smart form but as I mentioned earlier he needs to find a lot of improvement to trouble the favourite. Buratino has the accolade of defeating Air Force Blue at Royal Ascot but that form was turned around at The Curragh, there is a slight question mark on easier ground and the trip with him given he has not tackled further than 6f in a race before. There are other smart types in the field but they really do need to improve a great deal to trouble the principals. I look forward to watching the action later on and I hope we see a smart performance from the winner.