Best bets for the horse racing Sunday 11th August 2024
It really is a case of no rest for the wicked this weekend with another busy day Sunday with fancies all over the world from early afternoon through the day and nearly into Monday morning! I am involved in races from four different countries today from Brandenburg to Virginia and it aint often you get to say that! They try yet again at Saratoga with their big Turf races having been abandoned the last two Saturdays due to the storms out there.
Best bet for the horse racing at Hoppegarten
The Group One 1m4f Westminster 134th Grosser Preis von Berlin is the race of interest in Germany due off at 2.43 our time. Joseph O’Brien’s son of Wootton Bassett, Al Riffa, is on trial for the Arc it would appear with the trainer saying this week “It will be his first try at a mile and a half but we think that will suit him and he’s been given a nice draw. It would be great if he could be competitive in another Group One. I think we’re taking it race-by-race but potentially he could roll straight into the Arc from here.” His second in the 1m2f Coral-Eclipse is fair form on paper but all in that race bar the winner, City Of Troy, would be a doubtful stayer over a mile-and-a-half so he didn’t have to stay on passed much to nick second, and i’m still not convinced City Of Troy is as good as some believe either! At the prices, and without the word soft in the going description, I am prepared to take him on. This is a race Godolphin have won a few times but Charlie Appleby just the once when he sent Rebels Romance over to win a couple of years back; he has a live chance this weekend in the shape of King Of Conquest. A winner of a couple of Listed races on his last two starts he is well-worth a try at this level in Germany. Adrie de Vries is booked to ride which has to be seen as a positive. Charlie Appleby said this week “King Of Conquest heads to Germany in great shape. He has proven very consistent this year and we feel that this is his chance to have a crack at a European G1. We know he gets the mile and a half well and is quite versatile in terms of ground. He should be a live player.” 5-2 is generally available.
Best bet for the horse racing at Deauville
The mile Group One Prix Jacques Le Marois at 3.04 is the big race on Sunday across the Channel. Inspiral is bidding to become the first horse to win the €1 million Group One three times having landed the two most recent editions under jockey Frankie Dettori. Owners Cheveley Park Stud and joint-trainers John and Thady Gosden have been mulling over whether to stick someone new on top of Inspiral all week with yard number one Kieran Shoemark under some pressure of late. As it has turned out they have plumped for Ryan Moore in the saddle which isn’t that unusual for Cheveley Park who have used him several times. Confirming riding arrangements the owner's representative Chris Richardson Richardson said in a statement on Thursday "Ryan Moore rides Inspiral in the Prix Jacques le Marois on Sunday. Ryan has ridden many of our best horses over the years and we are always keen to use him when he is available." It is a bit of a kick in the teeth for Kieran Shoemark who has had a difficult season, but that’s the game. Last year's runner-up Big Rock will be partnered by Cristian Demuro for the first time in another game of jockey merry-go-round.He simply hasn’t looked the same horse so far this season, though is still officially top-rated in the race, and connections may be regretting moving him from Cristopher Head to the yard of Maurizio Guarnieri. Talking about Quddwah this week, Ed Crisford said "He’s been training really well into the race. He’s ready for a Group 1 now. It looks like it’s going to be a small field but a very competitive race. He’s only had four runs in his life and you need to keep proving yourself. The way he won the other day in a good field at Ascot showed he’s ready to have a go at the top tier. He’s still quite babyish, even at Ascot he hit the front and he idled a bit, but he’s proved to us that he’s ready to have a crack at it. He’s quite straightforward in the race as he travels strong, but he’s lightly raced and learning on the job. He’ll want a strong pace to aim at – the stronger the better for him – but he’s an exciting horse and he’s got it all ahead of him." Connections will be hoping the four-year-old can emulate his sire Kingman, who won the race in 2014. Haatem has been in with the best of them this season and has a couple of G.3 wins to give with this third in the 2,000 Guineas and second in the Irish 2,000. There’s no Rossallion or Notable Speech here and with the weight-for-age allowance, half-a-stone from the older colts and gelding, he looks to have a chance. Charyn was an impressive winner of the G.1 Queen Anne Stakes over the eight-furlongs at the Royal meeting and the grey colt appears to have really matured from three to four. I am on the Roger Varian trained colt at 2-1.
I wanted to back Ombudsman last time at over 1m2f Leicester but he was odds-on and unbackable. The son of Night Of Thunder has his third start in the Listed 1m2f Listed Prix Nureyev at 3.39. Trained by John and Thady Gosden for Godolphin Ryan Moore is in the saddle here. A winner over a mile at Newmarket on his belated debut in June, two-time winner since Arabian Light in second, before the Leicester victory this looks a nice opportunity for this late developer who surely has more to offer yet after just two starts. I have the 5-4.
Best bet for the horse racing at Ripon
Trained at Somerville Lodge by William Haggas Bursinel had entries at Newmarket and Redcar on Saturday but will run in the mile GBR Ownership Day Monday 26th August Novice Stakes here at 4.40. By Fastnet Rock he is a full-brother to the stable's G.1 winner Rivet and 90+ rated handicapper Amanzoe. The gelding has failed to win in four starts to date but has been beaten by some decent ones in the process including when only beaten a length and a half by 2,000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes winner Notable Speech in a Kempton maiden in January. A fair fourth in a maiden on his turf debut at Windsor last month an opening mark of 77 looks very workable. Dam Starship has produced nine foals to race so far, the other eight all being winners, so surely it is just a case of time until this one follows suit. I am on at Evens.
Best bet for the horse racing at Colonial Downs
The meeting at Colonial Downs was pushed back twenty-four hours to Sunday due to some potential bad weather forecast. Charlie Appleby is double handed at this meeting as well as his runners at Saratoga yesterday; they have been busy at the satellite stable at Godolphin’s historic Greentree barn in Saratoga. William Buick is back out in the US of A to ride here and with the number of runners the team had at Saratoga it looks significant he is here to ride rather than there though he can’t ride them all I suppose.
Mischief Magic has been re-routed following the abandonment of the Troy Stakes last weekend at Saratoga and now runs in the 5½f Van Clief Stakes at Colonial Downs at 9.40 our time. Winner of the G.1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in 2022, Mischief Magic has produced a string of solid efforts in the UAE, Qatar and United States this year, including filling the runner-up spot in Keeneland’s G2 Shakertown Stakes. No-one has priced-up at the time of writing. No-one here in the UK are offering odds early this morning so shop about later.
The Grade One 1m2f Arlington Million Stakes at 11.40 our time is arguably the race of the day. William Buick is on town to ride Nations Pride as he looks to win another major international prize. Charlie Appleby said in the build-up “Nations Pride heads to Colonial Downs in great order. The ground conditions are obviously very changeable, with a tropical storm moving across the area, but he has won with cut in the ground. It was pretty slow in the Canadian International last year and he won on soft ground out in Germany, so it’s not too big of a concern. He looks the one to beat.” The colt has already enjoyed success in the UK, the UAE, the United States and Canada, including the first of three top-level wins in the 2022 G1 Saratoga Derby. Having started 2023 with an easy victory in the G3 Dubai Millennium Stakes, Nations Pride returned to Europe to take the G1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis by three lengths before another impressive display in the G1 Canadian International. He makes his third North American appearance of 2024 for Charlie Appleby after coming home third behind Silver Knott in the G.2 Man o’War Stakes at Aqueduct and going down by two lengths to Measured Time in the G1 Manhattan Stakes at Saratoga. He looks a good thing and I have the 10-11.
Best bets for the horse racing at Saratoga
They try again in New York this evening with the two main Turf races last weekend called-off following a deluge of rain and again last night due to the weather.
The mile Grade One Fourstardave Handicap due off at 11.16 now won’t see Master Of The Seas return to action but Charlie Appleby still saddles Ottoman Fleet. The five-year-old has placed on both his previous G.1 appearances, coming home third in last season’s Manhattan Stakes at Belmont Park and chasing home Measured Time in the Jebel Hatta at Meydan in January. He has been thriving in the States so far this summer having won three of his last four starts for Charlie Appleby, including comfortable Churchill Downs victories in the G.3 Arlington Stakes and G.2 Wise Dan Stakes. Charlie Appleby said on the Godolphin “Ottoman Fleet will be fine on slower ground and heads into this in great nick. He won a Listed race at Newmarket in testing conditions as a three-year-old and we used to think he was a horse who would appreciate cut in the ground, although you can’t argue with what he has achieved on a quicker surface. He’s versatile and deserves a crack at a nice race like this.” 5-4 is the best price available as I write of the few that have chalked-up.
The Grade One 1m1½f Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes is now due off at 11.49 our time. Diego Velazquez was due to run last weekend but doesn’t now which makes the race a slightly easier task for Legend Of Time you would think. He started his year with three wins at Meydan and scored on his second US appearance when getting up close home in the G.2 Pennine Ridge Stakes at Aqueduct in May. He got no luck in running in the G.1 Belmont Derby last time and will be looking to put the record straight here; Flavien Prat will be in the saddle with William Buick required elsewhere; Prat rides all three for Charlie Appleby on the card. Charlie Appleby said last week in the build-up “Legend Of Time didn’t get the rub of the green in the Belmont Derby, but he came out of the race well. He has some valuable experience of racing in the US now, and hopefully we can work out a better trip here. He should be a big player.” He added this week “The forecast potential rain at Saratoga shouldn’t be an issue for Legend Of Time, and it could place more emphasis on stamina. He has been training well and I’m hoping that we get a clearer run here compared to the Belmont Derby.” 15-8 is the best price available of the few that have chalked-up as I write Sunday morning. Flavien Prat rides the pair.
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