Time Test gave Ryan Moore his first winner since returning from a neck injury and secured a trip to Kentucky for next month’s Breeders’ Cup with a comfortable one-length success in the Group Two Joel Stakes at Newmarket on Friday.
Roger Charlton’s colt was a leading contender for the International Stakes at York in August but could finish only fourth behind Arabian Queen. Returned to a mile, he quickened from off the pace in a four-runner field to beat Custom Cut, last year’s winner of the race, with something to spare.
Charlton believes Time Test could prove to be one of the best he has trained as the colt matures. “I’d personally like to think we would go to the Breeders’ Cup but it is down to Juddmonte Farms and Khalid Abdullah,” Charlton said. “We will keep all options open. The Breeders’ Cup is slightly different, they are scrambling for positions, but he has no shortage of speed. I would think it would really suit him.
“Today is very much a building block. He has obviously got the speed and class to run over a mile and he produces a good turn of foot. Having been a bit immature in the past, there was no sign of that today. We are coming back from a disappointing run at York, we straightaway put that run behind us.
“I think he’ll end up being a better horse than Al Kazeem, for example. He has just been immature and the future is ahead of us. Ryan said the ground was a bit dead for him today but really quick ground would suit him, which is handy for either the Breeders’ Cup or Hong Kong, or next year if we don’t go anywhere.”
Moore has seven booked rides at Newmarket on Saturday, including Deauville, the favourite for the Group Two Royal Lodge Stakes. “He is a very talented horse and would not be out of place in any big race, really,” the jockey said. “He is a young horse and we are still learning about him. It is nice to get a winner, but I’m lucky enough to ride such a nice horse.”
Moore went on to complete a double on Sir Michael Stoute’s Cannock Chase in the Listed Godolphin Stakes. Cannock Chase could also be heading for North America, with a run in the Canadian International at Woodbine among the options being considered.
“He has done that very nicely,” Stoute said after Cannock Chase had beaten Tashaar by nearly four lengths. “That is the first time we have run him over a mile and a half and I would certainly consider the Canadian International. I think Canada would be more suitable than the Breeders’ Cup Turf.”
Promising Run, a daughter of the 2007 Kentucky Derby runner-up Hard Spun, will be trained for next year’s 1,000 Guineas after a clear-cut success in the Rockfel Stakes, a Group Two.
“We think a mile might be better for her than the mile and a half of the Oaks trip but she will probably be able to stretch out to 10 furlongs,” Saeed bin Suroor, Promising Run’s trainer, said.
“She’s in the Fillies’ Mile [at Newmarket] in two weeks but it might come a bit soon, so we will decide whether to keep her in Newmarket or go to Dubai for the winter. If she went to Dubai, the UAE Guineas and Oaks would be obvious targets. She has a lot of class.”
