If the main aim of a Classic trial in May is to find a horse that might win at Epsom in June, perhaps the Musidora Stakes here on Wednesday did its job a little too well. Both Star Of Seville, the winner, and Together Forever, beaten a head with 4lb more in her saddle, are now expected to line up for the Oaks, but it is still far from certain that either is a Classic winner in waiting, or even that they will finish in the same order next time out.
Star Of Seville made all the running and as John Gosden, her trainer, pointed out: “It’s a long time to be in front for an inexperienced filly.” She slowed appreciably in the closing stages, having appeared to be on the brink of a convincing success, which allowed Together Forever, who was making her seasonal debut in addition under a penalty for her win in the Group One Fillies’ Mile last season, to close the gap very quickly in the final furlong.
Frankie Dettori, Star Of Seville’s jockey, suggested that the narrow margin of victory was down to the filly’s unpredictable nature.
“She’s a bit quirky, but she’s very talented,” the jockey said. “We had the race won and all of a sudden, she decided to stick her head up and wait for the others. She put the brakes on and then when he [Ryan Moore on Together Forever] came next to me, she went on again.
“She’s a character, but she’s very talented and she’ll have a great chance [in the Oaks].”
Paddy Power pushed out Star Of Seville from 8-1 to 10-1 for the Oaks, while cutting the runner-up to 10-1 (from 14-1). William Hill, meanwhile, offer 5-6 each of two in an match bet for the Oaks, another clear sign that the race was revealing and confusing in equal measure.
Legatissimo, the 1,000 Guineas winner, is the favourite for the next fillies’ Classic at 4-1 and likely to remain at the head of the market with only a couple of minor Oaks trials at Newbury and Goodwood still to be run.
Diamondsandrubies, who took the Cheshire Oaks last week, and Found, like Together Forever a Group One winner for Aidan O’Brien last season, are next in the betting, at 7-1 and 8-1, and it is 10-1 bar the front three.
“She’s gone from a maiden to a conditions race to winning the Group Three Musidora, so things are very positive,” Gosden said. “Take nothing away from the second, she’s nice, and nothing from the Cheshire Oaks winner, she’s nice, but I had the second and third there so I know the form.
“I’m delighted with the run and the first and second deserve to be in the Oaks, it makes it an interesting race.”
One question that hangs over most Classic contenders at Epsom is whether they will act on the track, but Star Of Seville may well have a run around Tattenham Corner in the runup to the Oaks at the annual Breakfast With the Stars event on 26 May.
The main issue for punters analysing Wednesday’s result, though, is whether Dettori was correct in his belief that Star Of Seville was just waiting for company before finding more.
An alternative would be that her run was petering out just as Together Forever was finding her finishing kick. If so, then with this run behind her and no weight concession at Epsom, Together Forever would be a very good bet at Hills’ 5-6 to reverse the form next time.
Six horses were still in with a chance well inside the final furlong of the Group Two Duke Of York Stakes, but the excitement as they crossed the line separated by a total of two heads, two necks and a nose was replaced by puzzled silence as Glass Office, a 40-1 outsider, was confirmed as the winner.
It was an absence of much recent form that made Glass Office a long shot, however, as he had made just two starts since finishing fourth in a Group Two at Glorious Goodwood in July 2013.
“He got struck into coming out of the stalls in Dubai [last March] and hurt himself quite badly,” David Simcock, the winner’s trainer, said. “He actually ran very well in the Abernant [at Newmarket earlier this month] over a trip far too sharp and we were hopeful York would suit him.
“He’ll go to Ascot now [for the Diamond Jubilee Stakes] and then the July Cup. Him and Caspar Netscher [who finished fourth] will be going exactly the same route and taking each other on, I daresay one will beat the other in different races and I’m sure there’ll be one or two to beat them in some of those races as well, but I’m pretty sure he should come on again.”
Gosden’s success in the Musidora was the second leg of a double following Mahsoob’s win in the 10-furlong handicap which opened the card, secured with a relentless run from well off the pace which carried him into the lead a couple of strides from the line.
It was a well-judged ride by Paul Hanagan, but the four-year-old Mahsoob was clearly a horse apart from his opponents and remains unbeaten after three starts having not seen a racecourse until November 2014. Mahsoob hold entries in the Group One Prince Of Wales’s Stakes and Eclipse Stakes over a mile and a quarter, but the manner of his success here suggests that he is ready to step up to a mile and a half and the Group Two Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot may be his next target.
“I told Paul to ride him with confidence and he did,” Gosden said. “He has taken some pulling up there, just as he did at Newbury [last time out] so I think we would be better off stepping him up in trip.”
Gosden added that Christophermarlowe, the beaten odds-on favourite behind Kilimanjaro in Saturday’s Derby Trial at Lingfield, has not been ruled out of Epsom entirely but will need fast ground to line up for the Classic.
“He found the ground sticky and holding and that’s not his scene,” Gosden said. “He’s got a very easy, low action and he loves top of the ground, so we’ll wait for good-to-firm somewhere. If we don’t get any, I’d be happy to wait for the [King] Edward VII [Stakes at Royal Ascot]. If it got really hot and there was fast ground at Epsom, we’d have to think about it because he handles the track well. They’ll start on good on the Friday but if it’s blistering hot, it will dry up quickly.”
