Boughey in the big time

Congratulations to George Boughey who claimed his first Classic in only his third full season when Cachet (16/1) won the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on Sunday. The Newmarket trainer won the Listed Pretty Polly Stakes on the same card twelve months ago with Mystery Angel but it is a tremendous achievement to win such a prestigious event so early in his career. A filly by Aclaim who cost 60,000gns at the breeze-ups in the spring of 2021, she was campaigned aggressively as a juvenile running on eight occasions. Placed in the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes and Group 1 Fillies' Mile, she was only beaten a length in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, too. Successful on her reappearance in the Group 3 Nell Gwyn Stakes last month, she was reunited with the man of the moment James Doyle in the first fillies' Classic. Prominent throughout, she stayed on well to beat Prosperous Voyage (33/1) by a neck. It was a gutsy display by Cachet, who has proved a bargain buy. Both the winner and runner-up featured in the Talking Trainers section of AOTF under Boughey and Ralph Beckett respectively.

The two fillies in the Top 40, namely Tuesday (3rd) and Ameynah (6th), both ran well considering they lacked experience and were maiden winners last time out. Frankie Dettori felt the ground was quick enough for the former and will benefit from stepping up in trip - she looks Epsom Oaks material - while the latter was slowly away and David Egan felt she would have been closer, if ridden near the pace. The pair remain fillies of considerable potential.

Elsewhere, Kevin Ryan was very complimentary about Forza Orta (6/4) on page 95 of Ahead On The Flat and, having finished an encouraging third on his reappearance at Thirsk last month, the Fastnet Rock gelding justified strong market when winning the Buttonhook Handicap at Hamilton. Having moved smoothly into contention, the four year old was pushed out for a three parts of a length victory under Kevin Stott off a mark of 78. There is plenty more to come from the lightly raced gelding.

Ed Walker won the Group 2 Dahlia Stakes at HQ courtesy of Dreamloper. Stablemate Bling On The Music shaped nicely on his reappearance when finishing a close second at Salisbury. A well bred son of Sea The Stars, he had disappointed connections on his sole start last year at Haydock but this was much more like it at the Wiltshire track. Contesting a seven furlongs novice stakes, he was doing all his best work late on and got to within half a length of previous winner Windseeker. An extra furlong won't go amiss and he is the sort to win a nice handicap later in the year. He could even be one for the Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot (16th June) provided he wins next time and has a high enough rating. 

Typically, the standard of racing drops for the Bank Holiday and Tuesday is nothing to write home about either - there are no featured horses in AOTF in action on either day. I will therefore be back to update the Diary over the next couple of days. It has been a tremendous weekend for Ahead On The Flat - if you haven't ordered a copy or the Updates, please head to the Publications section of the site.

I will also be back with the final statistics for One Jump Ahead and the various sections.