Saturday
We kick Saturday off with Time For Sandals in the Super Sprint at Newbury (15:35). We’ve not done a huge amount with her since she won at Kempton, and she seems in good form. She was pretty eye-catching that day, and for one of ours to win first time up, you’d have to think she’s above average. I’m a big fan of this type of race and I’m really looking forward to having a runner in it. We’ll find out what kind of filly she is on Saturday, but fingers crossed she can show a good account of herself in these waters whatever happens.
Later on at Newbury we have Quick Point making his debut for us (16:10). He’s a nicely bred colt, by Blue Point and from the family of Lochsong, who I’ve always liked, so it’s fantastic to train horses like him for Jeff Smith. He’s a pretty relaxed individual at home, where nothing seems to faze him, so this will very much be his first day at school. We’ll build on whatever he does on Saturday and look forward to the future with him.
Over to Newmarket, we’ve got two runners with Ancient Times up first (16:20). For once so far this summer it looks like we’re going to get a meeting not wholly affected by rain! And this will be good news for this guy as I think the faster going will suit him well. To be honest, he’s been a bit of a head-scratcher this year. He’s been in fine fettle at home but just hasn’t been seeing his races out terribly well. We’re going to try him up over six furlongs on Saturday with the tongue tie applied, and hopefully he can get a bit closer to getting his head in front.
Our second Newmarket runner and final chance on the day is Speed Court (19:05). He’s making his second start for us since joining the yard, and I was happy with his effort at Epsom last time out, which came off a decent layoff. This race looks pretty ideal for him in many ways, but I’m just a bit worried about the quick turnaround given he had had such a long time off the track. The good thing is that he’s nice and fresh at home, and this trip should suit well, as should the more conventional Newmarket track. Hayley (Turner) is back on board, and I hope he can be there at the finish.
Stable Stars Update
We’re not far off Goodwood and the plan, all being well, is to send Divine Comedy to either the Lillie Langtry or 2m4f Handicap. The feeling is that she’s improved from her second at Royal Ascot and I’d love to try her in black type company against some better mares. The Lillie Langtry would be a fairly big step up, against the likes of Free Wind and Queen Of The Pride, but it could well cut up somewhat, so we’d be keen to take our chance. We’ll see how the ground is before deciding which race she’ll go for and make that call nearer the time.
Docklands has been in great form since the Queen Anne. He worked nicely this morning and almost well enough to consider whether we should try and find a race between now and the Strensall, our medium-term target at York’s Ebor Festival. However, I think we’ll just hold fire for now, as he’s got a long year ahead of him and I want to make sure he’s able to peak multiple times throughout the campaign. We’d toyed with the idea of the Juddmonte, but considering how hot that is looking with the likes of City Of Troy, Ambiente Friendly and others touted for it, I think the Strensall is the best port of call. There’s still plenty of water to go under the bridge between now and York, but fingers crossed he’ll continue to train well all the way up to race day.
All the best,
Harry