On the Summer Gallop this morning.
A bright and pleasant morning with a warm day forecast.
Austin Allison came to see visit his horses shortly before lunch on what is an important day for Austin and his family. His son, Jonny, is getting married nearby this afternoon and a spot of equine therapy has hopefully helped calm the nerves. The bride-to-be and mother-of-the-groom could not attend as they were too busy getting ready – some might say they have their priorities muddled!
We took a number of the two-year-olds to the Summer Gallop third lot for a blow out.
One runner this evening with Manndawi lining up in Listed company at Windsor. We were disappointed with his last run at Leopardstown but he simply did not stay on testing ground, so a mile and a half on good to soft should be right up his street. This is his last run before he heads into quarantine for Melbourne and hopefully he can turn in a solid display in what is a competitive affair.
We saddle two tomorrow at Yarmouth. Alqubbah has the best form in the six furlong fillies’ maiden and we hope she will prove tough to beat with conditions to suit. We wouldn’t want the ground to get any softer for Fieldsman, who is on a recovery mission following a lacklustre spring, so we will be monitoring the situation in the morning.
Two declarations for Monday – Al Hamd will make his second start in the maiden auction at Epsom while Clarentine heads to Ripon for the mile and a quarter handicap. Paul Hanagan rides the former and Graham Gibbons the latter.
Not the best quality racing this afternoon but we have the opportunity to see Kodi Bear back in action and he looked a horse with a Group One future at Salisbury. Hopefully he will be QEII-bound after today.
And finally, the best horse on the planet lines up in the Travers Stakes this evening as Triple Crown winner American Pharoah bids for his ninth consecutive victory at Saratoga, ‘the graveyard of champions’ before but surely not tonight. It looks like it will be this then the Breeders’ Cup Classic for Bob Baffert’s superstar – enjoy him while you can!
Have a great weekend.
Ed.