Knocking on the door

A couple of horses featured in the Maidens In Waiting section of AOTF have been knocking on the door during the last few days. Firstly, Kirilenko was denied by half a length on her handicap debut at Windsor on Sunday. There were no excuses for Sir Michael Stoute's filly who looked attractively treated off an opening mark of 75 holding every chance inside the final couple of furlongs. Many will point to the fact it was a major advantage to race close to the pace on the stands rail at the Thames track but it was still disappointing that William Buick's mount couldn't get passed the front running Rose Barton. Hopefully, the daughter of Ulysses will gain compensation in the near future. She may be worth a try over slight further than a mile.

On Thursday, I was expecting Knight of Honour to follow up his recent Goodwood win in the ten furlongs handicap at Haydock. Similar to Kirilenko, John & Thady Gosden's colt looked set to prevail but couldn't overcome the strong challenge of Hamaki who came under pressure some way from home. Once again, half a length separated the pair. Robert Havlin produced him at the right time but found one too good with a couple of lengths back to the third. On a positive note, the William Haggas trained winner had been beaten nearly three lengths by Top 40 Prospects entry Vee Sight at Sandown last time.

Talking of the Haggas stable, the Somerville Lodge outfit dominated proceedings at the Merseyside track with 4 winners from 5 runners. The yard have sent out 22 winners from 92 runners during June and they unleashed a potentially smart juvenile in Desert Hero. A son of Sea The Stars, he ran on strongly to beat some decent rivals by upwards of two and three quarters of a length. From the family of Group 2 winner Dartmouth, he belongs to the Queen and it will be interesting to see if he is aimed at something like the Group 2 Vintage Stakes at Goodwood or the Group 3 Acomb Stakes at York in August. His victory didn't come as a surprise having worked well at home beforehand. 

I am working at Haydock Park (Friday) and Carlisle (Saturday) over the next few days and will therefore update the Diary shortly. I am intrigued to see what Ralph Beckett can achieve with the thrice raced Quavering who makes his handicap debut off a mark of 67 in the opening contest at the former track on Friday evening. Gelded since his last run, the son of Vocalised is a half-brother to the dual Group 1 winner Mac Swiney who won the Irish 2000 Guineas in bottomless ground. He therefore shouldn't mind the likely conditions at the North west venue. It is worth reading his trainer's comments on page 59 of AOTF. Available at 8/1, I am hoping he will reward each-way support.