4.30pm Frankel filly gets Guineas quote after debut romp
Tony Paley: Fair Eva became the third of Frankel’s offspring from four runners to have made it to the track to win on Wednesday. The filly, who was priced up at 25-1 for next year’s 1,000 Guineas by BetVictor after an easy win at Haydock, was the first offspring of the great horse to sport the colours of Frankel’s owner-breeder Khalid Abdullah.
The Roger Charlton-trained youngster, who is out of the 2008 Sprint Cup winner African Rose, was sent off a well-backed evens favourite and overcame greenness and inexperience in the early stages to run out an impressive winner.
Charlton was delighted with the performance and although he has no immediate plans for the filly, he feels she will stay further than six furlongs.
“She’s a professional and she moved like you’d hope a Frankel might,” said the Beckhampton trainer. “She overcame a difficult start and I thought when he (Ryan Moore) pressed the button, she looked impressive and she galloped well out to the line which is a characteristic of the Frankels I’ve seen that have won.
“They take a bit of pulling up, so she should get further. I don’t know where she’ll go next. I’ve not looked yet.”
4.25pm New Bay ruled out of Royal Ascot
New Bay has been ruled out of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot next week. Winner of the French Derby last year, the Dubawi colt was third in the Arc behind Golden Horn but beaten a long way by A Shin Hikari, hot favourite for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, on his return.
But after completing a gallop on Tuesday, trainer Andre Fabre did not think New Bay was in rude enough health to be competing in such a high-class race.
Owner Khalid Abdullah’s racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe said: “New Bay did not work to Andre Fabre’s satisfaction on Tuesday morning and will not be coming over to Royal Ascot. He is fine but did not please enough in his work to bring him for a Group One. Soundness-wise, he has got no problems so we will give him a bit more time and regroup.” PA
Today’s best bets, by Chris Cook
I began yesterday by expressing sympathy for connections of Any Currency, who will lose his Cheltenham Festival victory because he failed a drug test. An anti-inflammatory, which is permitted to be given to a horse in training, was still in his system on raceday, some time after connections expected it would have passed through him.
I still feel sorry for them but I have no sympathy with some of the things said on their behalf in the past 24 hours, especially the stuff about “We’ve done nothing wrong”. Racing’s records are littered with examples of horses who had to be disqualified because they recycled a drug in their system for much longer than had been expected. What happened here is not unprecedented. It’s not even surprising.
As a general principle, if you’re desperate to avoid your horse testing positive for a drug, then don’t give it the drug in the first place. The moment you decide to give it something, you’re taking a calculated risk and there will be no one else to blame if the risk backfires.
Let’s not forget that one day your horse, after months of careful preparation, may finish a close second behind another horse that turns out to have something in his system that should not be there. If that happens, you’ll get the prize. Who can honestly say they would prefer a different system, more lenient about drugs in the game?
And so to today’s racing, which will hopefully produce no such dramas three months from now. The nap is October Storm (3.10), from the in-form yard of Mick Channon, successful with six of his last seven runners. This one is riddern by Silvestre de Sousa and I note again what a productive partnership that has been this season, winning at a rate of 18% and returning a level-stakes profit of 21%.
October Storm finished strongly in his last two races, over an inadequate trip at Windsor and then held up behind a sustainable pace at Sandown. This staying distance looks right for him and a well-watered surface, together with some expected rain, may help him to get to the front in time. He’s 11-4.
Godolphin have the favourite for the following mile handicap but Albernathy’s status owes too much to potential rather than actual, for my liking. I’ll go with Carnageo (3.40), who carries a penalty for hosing up at Ripon a week ago on just his second try in a handicap. Richard Fahey’s runner is 100-30.
Tipping competition, day three
Our winners so far:
Monday
Intisaab 11-4
Dutch Mist 16-1
Moondyne Joe 9-2
Tuesday
White Poppy 2-1
Monarch Maid 10-1
Parnell’s Dream 3-1
And our leader is:
Copshaw +25
… who added Monarch Maid AND White Poppy to a 16-1 winner on Monday. Palace55 (+22) has done almost as well.
Today, we’d like your tips, please, for these races: 3.20 Yarmouth, 5.10 Haydock, 8.30 Kempton.
This week’s prize is offered by the tipster and analyst Marten Julian. Our winner will have access to his ‘Royal Ascot Package’, including his preview books (available as PDFs and in hard copy), an online preview the night before each day’s racing and text messages on race mornings. If you don’t win, you can order it here.
As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of £1 at starting price on our nominated races, of which there will be three each day up until Friday. Non-runners count as losers. If you have not joined in so far this week, you are welcome to do so today but you will start on -6.
In the event of a tie at the end of the week, the winner will be the tipster who, from among those tied on the highest score, posted their tips earliest on the final day.
For terms and conditions click here.
Good luck!
And post your tips or racing-related comments below.
