Weekend Review

Having been racing a few days towards the end of last week, I have been catching up watching replays etc since. Working at York on Saturday, the feature event was the Group 3 Criterium Stakes which was won by Quinault. Stuart Williams' stable star made all the running under Jason Hart and never looked like being headed. A triple Listed winner over six furlongs, the five year old showed a lot of speed during the first half of the contest taking most of his rivals out of their comfort zone. He covered the second and third furlongs in 10.94 and 10.86 seconds. A length winner from Room Service, Kevin Ryan's runner-up was quicker than the winner during the last two furlongs. The pair are likely to clash once again in the Group 1 City of York Stakes over C&D in August. The disappointment of the race was Lake Forest who trailed in sixth. William Haggas' runner was in trouble early in the homestraight and this may have come too soon after his run in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot (11 days earlier). His victory in the valuable Golden Eagle Stakes in Australia last backend was the best form on offer - he beat the subsequent Group 1 QEII Jubilee Stakes winner Lazzat. This was too bad to be true.

Earlier on the card, the Haggas stable had better fortune with the progressive Archivist making it two from three since joining the Somerville Lodge outfit. Making his handicap debut off a rating of 90 in the opening one mile contest, the Cheveley Park Stud owner runner had won easily at Leicester on his previous start and he came home strongly here to beat Barley by a length. The steady early gallop didn't play to his strengths but Tom Marquand's mount showed a willing attitude once coming under pressure and was value for more than the winning margin. Raised seven pounds since, he is entered in the John Smith's Cup at the same track this month (12th July) but that will almost certainly come too soon, plus he is unlikely to get in even with his penalty. Ten furlongs won't be an issue later on and he is capable of winning a valuable handicap before making his mark in Pattern company one day. Archivist was William Haggas' horse to follow in Ahead On The Flat, plus he is featured in the Stable Switchers section.

The seven furlongs novice stakes for juveniles looked a decent contest on paper with some smart pedigrees on show and it lived up to its billing with the well bred Hankelow creating a favourable impression. Trained by Karl Burke, the son of Night of Thunder is a half-brother to the useful Epic Poet and cost 750,000gns as a yearling. Clifford Lee's mount travelled well on the far side before quickly settling the issue inside the final furlong. A two and a quarter lengths victor, he clocked a top speed of 40.52mph inside the penultimate furlong. Interestingly, his jockey feels he will be even more suited by slower ground and won't have any trouble staying a mile. Pattern company could be next. The runner-up Crest of Fire had finished fifth on his debut at Newbury behind the subsequent Chesham Stakes winner Humidity - that race has worked out particularly well with the sixth, seventh, tenth and eleventh winning since, plus the fourteenth was runner-up in the Coventry Stakes. 

Aidan O'Brien dominated the three days at the Curragh with 5 winners from 20 runners, including Group 1 successes for Whirl (Pretty Polly Stakes) and Lambourn (Irish Derby). That pair showed terrific battling qualities with the former seemingly outstaying Kalpana, whilst the latter became the twentieth horse to complete the English & Irish Derby double. The son of Australia is clearly a high-class colt with an attitude to match but he lacks the brilliance of some of the other equine stars to emerge from Ballydoyle. A three parts of a length winner from stablemate Serious Challenge, the runner-up had filled the same position in the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot off a mark of 92 ten days earlier. The St Leger at Doncaster looks an obvious target because it remains to be seen whether he has the class to win the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe. Time will tell.