One winner in the Top 40 but it should have been two

Blue Bolt provided the highlight on day two of the Newmarket July meeting with Andrew Balding's filly gaining her first Group 1 victory in the Falmouth Stakes on Friday. The daughter of Blue Point finished runner-up in the Sun Chariot Stakes on the Rowley Mile last Autumn but has improved again as a four year old. Unbeaten in three runs this term, she was an impressive winner of the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot last month and followed up here with an even better effort. A two lengths winner from the three year old Precise, her trainer suggested afterwards that the Group 1 Matron Stakes at Leopardstown is likely to be her next target, although a trip to France hasn't been ruled out in the meantime. Regular subscribers will recall that she was nominated as unraced three year old to follow in the Cheltenham Festival Update last year - she duly finished fifth of nine in a seven furlongs fillies' maiden at Southwell on her debut in April 2025 but hasn't looked back since.

There was mixed success for the Top 40 Prospects at Chester on Friday evening. Crownright got off the mark at the fifth time of asking winning the ten furlongs fillies' maiden. Ralph Beckett's runner was tackling the trip for the first time and won with plenty in hand. She will be of interest in a fillies' handicap with the long-term goal of gaining some black type. Later on the same card, Infraad returned from a break of 72 days and ought to have followed up his win at Pontefract during the spring. Making his handicap debut off 90, the well bred son of Ghaiyyath was slowly away and was faced with a mountain to climb thereafter. Harry Davies was content to sit and suffer in rear and wait for the gaps to open. They did eventually but much too late before staying on well in third. Beaten around a length and a quarter, this was a missed opportunity but William Haggas' colt remains a progressive youngster capable of bagging a valuable three year old handicap this summer / early Autumn. 

I am working at York on Saturday with the highlight being the John Smith's Cup. Eight of the 22 runners are officially rated 100 plus in a very strong edition of the ten furlongs contest. Fingers crossed the two runners in the Top 40 acquit themselves well and go close.