Newmarket Eye-catchers & Update

Just fought that I'd post a few eyecatchers from the Newmarket Guineas meeting for future reference seeing as Exam season means no more posts for a while, or at least none in detail - although you can always follow me on Twitter (@KeejayOV) - where I can be caught for the Chester and York meetings.

Saturday

Danadana (2.00) - Fifth in decent looking King George handicap last season and this first start since; Moved smoothly on front end and never off bridle until 2 & 1/2 furlongs out and break out him out in the end; Far better than that and can make presence felt in midseason, with the July Course 3yo handicap over 1m2f also shaping to be a likely target.

Dunaden (2.35) - Simply a case of not enough pace in the race for a horse who may have wanted better ground. Also had a 5lbs penalty deal with and even then placed out of his ground, so he's clearly much better than that and I reckon he's the best horse in the race.

Masked Marvel (2.35) - Disappointing but probably needed it badly and ground against him. Looks for him to come into his best when faced with a strongly run 1m4f+ and Ascot Gold Cup should really be the target.

Guineas: Let's start with Trumpet Major, who lead the biggest and winning group until last furlong before being swaped having led at a good pace (speed never dipped below 37 mph and the sectionals were more than decent according to experts) and was going very well before being passed by two Group 1 winners late on - while there was plenty to suggest that the third had the benefit of the best ground at the rail. With Camelot off to the Derby and French Fifteen looking like he could be aimed at the Prix Du Jockey Club (no idea where Hermival goes), he may well end up being the highest ranked miler in the race and the Irish Guineas/St James's Palace are ideal targets for him. Next up is Fencing, who travelled well and stayed on nicely into sixth. He was beaten further by Camelot than at Doncaster but shaped very nicely througought the race and stayed on nicely at the end for a long term prospect who's likely to excel at 1m2f (French Derby was planned at the beginning of the season) and one to be follow. Of the rest, many were either too keen or didn't handle the ground while Red Duke needed a better surface and is still waiting for a strongly run race; Power just needs another chance as he was beaten too far out for class or training on to be an issue and it maybe that he had something wrong with him or was just held up by that setback more than many people (myself included) had thought; He wouldn't be the first unplaced horse in a Guineas to go and have a great season, while he wouldn't be the 1st progressive 2yo to dissapoint in the Guineas and then come back strong and win. 


Sunday
Sandusky (2.05) - Held up out the back and very keen early while the race was run at a crawl for a comeptitve handicap, before then sytching through the pack in the end, threateneing to win before flattening out late on into fourth. With the first two having had a previous run this season, fitness only told in the last 100 yards and I'd like to think that he could reverse the form despite having started on a fairly leinent mark.

1,000 Guineas: This is very obvious but the two biggest eyecatchers were The Fugue and Starscope. Given that she suffered a very rough passage, I think that it's fair to say the latter's the better of the two and if her injury during the race (she got struck into) hasn't held her back too much, then I'd expect her to be a big player in all the top fillies races throughought the season - The Oaks seems an ideal starting point. Homecoming Queen shocked many but she has to be given a chance to prove that her win was no fluke, as she pulverized a very strong field that had looked extremely strong on paper (I felt it was stronger at face value than the 2,000 Guineas), and many of the big priced horses that hit the frame in the Guineas offten go on to show that their performances weren't a fluke (Dubawi Gold last season is as good an example as any). With Maybe looking like a prime Irish Guineas candidate, going straight to Royal Ascot might be a good option. Maybe ran a decent race in third and was travelling like a class act for most of the journey, but never really found anything to me - in much the same way that her travelling did most of the work for her in the Moyglare. This isn't in any way an attack on her, but I felt that she ran only OK in the circumstances; The Irish Guineas might be where she's best judged. The Irish fillies La Collina and Alla Speranza both ran well, with La Collina possibly one to benefit from a step up to 1m2f, while there will be worse outsiders for the Oaks then Jim Bolger's Alla Speranza, who wasn't beaten far despite weakeneing badly late on. As for Lyric Of Light and Discourse, both should have their runs written off - Lyric Of Light got beaten up mid race badly and I still have her high on the list for the Oaks.