Weekend Review

The Scottish National meeting at Ayr is always an enjoyable couple of days and the 2023 version didn't disappoint. Paul Nicholls was in fine form with a treble on Friday and Rubaud won the Scottish Champion Hurdle on Saturday. It was the stable's third win in the Grade 2 event and the ex-French gelding is an improving five year old who is likely to go over fences next term. Christian Williams sent out a personal best 34 winners last term and, while things have been much slower for the Welsh handler this time around, Kitty's Light provided the yard with their second consecutive win in the Scottish National. Runner-up in the same event twelve months earlier behind stablemate Win My Wings, the seven year old was refitted with cheekpieces and he beat Cooper's Cross by three lengths off a mark of 140. He was Christian's fourteenth winner of the 2022/2023 campaign. In a short space of time, his training CV includes two Scottish Nationals, two Eider Chases, a Welsh National and a Midlands National.

The crowds flocked to the Scottish venue with an estimated crowd of around 5,000 on Friday and over 15,000 in attendance on Saturday. In addition to Paul Nicholls, other leading trainers Nicky Henderson, Dan Skelton, Lucinda Russell, Jonjo O'Neill, Jamie Snowden and Charles Byrnes were present.  

Ralph Beckett had a profitable afternoon at Newbury on Saturday. Remarquee hails from a successful family which has served the Kimpton handler well over the years. A daughter of Kingman who created a good impression when winning on her debut at Salisbury last Autumn, she overcame greenness to win the Group 3 Fred Darling Stakes by a neck. Reported to have worked well earlier in the week, she quickened up inside the final furlong. Bred to be even better over further, the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket is next on her agenda and she won't be out of place in the line-up. Indeed, she looks set to play a leading role. 

Jimi Hendrix only finished thirteenth in the Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster earlier in the month. However, the four year old bounced back to form in the Spring Cup. Racing off a mark of 94 and sporting blinkers for the first time, the New Bay gelding doesn't like being crowded and was therefore kept wide by Rossa Ryan. Leading over a furlong one, he stayed on strongly to beat the Irish Lincolnshire winner Lattam by three and a half lengths. 

Both winners were included in Ralph's interview in Ahead On The Flat and William Haggas highlighted first time out three year old winners Fakhama (16/5) and Klondike (7/2) in his interview. The first named is a Kingman filly who is a half-sister to stablemate Mujtaba and, like her older sibling, she appears to relish slow ground winning the first division of the Bridget Fillies' Maiden Stakes at Newbury on Friday. The grey filly quickened up well to win going away by two and a quarter lengths. Her trainer feels she will progress further still over a mile. Klondike is another impeccably bred three year old who cost 600,000gns as a yearling. By Galileo out of Koora (won the Group 3 St Simon Stakes on soft ground for Luca Cumani), he is a half-brother to Queens Vase Stakes winner Kemari and stamina looks his forte judged on his narrow success in the eleven furlongs maiden at the Berkshire track on Saturday. Leading close home, he will stay at least a mile and a half and possibly further. 

Karl Burke's interview is also bearing fruit with Dubai Crystal (10/1), Indestrucible (8/1) and Spycatcher (7/2) winning during the last few days. The head of Spigot Lodge nominated the seven furlongs Michael Foster Conditions Stakes at Thirsk as the likely target for the last named on page 88 and the five year old didn't let his supporters down pulling away late on to score by nearly four lengths. 

While there have been plenty of winners in AOTF, the Top 40 Prospects have made a disappointing start with many of them getting bogged down in the soft ground, which has spoilt the start of the season. Both the Craven meeting at Newmarket and Newbury's two day fixture was run in slow conditions and it has found many of the horses out. As clients will be aware, I have selected a large proportion of three year olds trained by John and Thady Gosden and they have struggled to say the least. 

It is worth looking at the form of the former champion trainer during the last fortnight. Between the 10th and 12th April, the Clarehaven Stables outfit had a handful of winners from as many runners, including the exciting trio of Laurel, Running Lion and Slipofthepen. However, since then the yard have had one winner from their last 25 runners. Their form figures at Newmarket and Newbury combined are 13,7,1,7,10,13,9,2,5,9,7,9,15,16,12,11,6,3,3. The likes of Intinso (7th of 9), Coppice (10th of 15), Inner Space (13th of 15), Ludmilla (9th of 16), Mostabshir (5th of 7), Quantum Cat (9th of 10), Shiva Shakti (15th of 16), Soul Sister (12th of 12) and Bridestones (6th of 12) were once raced juveniles last year who either won or had shaped very promisingly and looked every inch Pattern performers in the making and yet all nine were beaten out of sight this week. Let's hope it was due to the state of the ground and they bounce back once it eventually warms up.