2 Winners for Top 40 including Falakeyah

Charlie Appleby ran sixteen horses over the three days at Newmarket's Guineas Festival and headed back to Moulton Paddocks on Sunday with 6 winners, including the 1000 and 2000 Guineas double. Twenty four hours after Ruling Court's thrilling victory in the first colts Classic on Saturday, stablemate Desert Flower justified strong market support by providing his trainer with his first win in the 1000 Guineas. Unbeaten in four starts last term, including in the Group 1 Fillies' Mile over C&D last Autumn, the daughter of Night of Thunder had been the subject of encouraging reports during the winter and she produced a strong staying performance to get the better of Ollie Sangster's pair Flight and Simmering. Always to the fore, William Buick's mount responded well to pressure and came home strongly once hitting the rising ground. A length winner, she is likely to head to Epsom now for the Oaks. Her racing style suggests a longer trip will suit but her pedigree doesn't suggest she is certain to stay a mile and a half. Her sire was a miler and her dam never won beyond nine furlongs - she was a non stayer over twelve furlongs in the Fillies & Mares at Ascot in 2016. 

Market rival Lake Victoria came under pressure some way from home before making her move with less than quarter of a mile to run. The second quickest through the penultimate furlong (11.53 seconds), Aidan O'Brien's filly looked set to play a part in the outcome but tired inside the final 200 yards eventually finishing sixth. It is well documented that daughter of Frankel didn't enjoy the smoothest of preparation and there is every chance she will improve markedly for the outing. She remains a dangerous opponent for races such as the Coronation Stakes at the Royal meeting, unless connections elect to drop her back in trip. It is also possible she might not want rattling fast ground - her dam was a proven mudlark. 

Those subscribers who bought the Royal Ascot Update last year may recall Flight featured in the Unraced Juveniles To Watch Out For. "Last month, I was working at Carlisle and met amateur rider Mr Ned Sangster for the first time. He reported that he rides out for George Boughey, James Horton and Roger Varian in Newmarket, plus rookie handler Ollie Sangster. Ned said that the stable's best two year old this time around is Flight, a filly by Siyouni out of Run Wild, who won the Pretty Polly Stakes for John Gosden in 2020. She has impressed in her work at home and is expected to be in action at the end of this month or early July." That was terrific information.

Having drawn a blank on Saturday, it was a much better day for followers of the Top 40 Prospects with a couple of winners. Falakeyah (6/4) looked a high quality filly when winning the Listed Pretty Polly Stakes which kicked off the card on the Rowley Mile. Trained by the in-form Owen Burrows, the New Bay filly had impressed when winning her sole start at Wolverhampton last year. Making a seamless transition into Pattern company, she produced a performance not too dissimilar to Friendly Soul's success twelve months earlier. Sent to the front from the outset, Jim Crowley's mount strolled out well and maintained the gallop. A fine big filly with a magnificent stride, she had all her rivals off the bridle with less than half a mile to run before keeping on well to register a three and a quarter lengths win. Entered in the Oaks at Epsom, she appears more likely to be kept to shorter trips for the time being with the French Oaks (15th June) a more likely target. Either way, she is a cracking prospect.

While he wasn't a betting proposition, it was pleasing to see Sallaal record a comfortable win in the novice stakes at Hamilton. Impeccably bred being a colt by Frankel out Group 1 winning mare Nahrain, the half-brother to last year's 1000 Guineas winner and stable companion Elmalka had raced much too keenly on his reappearance in the Feilden Stakes at Newmarket last month. Walked to the start beforehand, Roger Varian's runner was dropping back in trip and he settled much better on this occasion. Leading with less than two furlongs to travel, Ray Dawson's partner ran on strongly to beat the previously unbeaten Arctic Grey by three lengths. Officially rated 91, the form looks sound because the second had beaten the 99 rated and Listed runner-up Nebras at Southwell on his debut last month. Expect Sallaal to return to Pattern company sooner rather than later. A strongly mile on decent ground are possibly his optimum conditions. 

It has been a productive week for the Top 40 with 5 winners from 11 runners, including some exciting prospects Sardinian Warrior, Cosmic Year and Falakeyah. The Chester May meeting gets underway on Wednesday followed by York's Dante Festival seven days later. With little rain in the forecast, the prevailing fast ground is set to continue for the foreseeable future. I will be back to update the Diary in the next few days. We have still got a few copies of Ahead On The Flat in stock - if you haven't ordered a copy, please head to the Publications section of the site. It is also possible to order the AOTF Updates - fingers crossed there will be another Flight included the Royal Ascot 2025 version.