Updated: Tuesday (declared) MARINE ONE in a 1m Maiden at Yarmouth Wednesday (declared) CRACKSMAN in the Derby Trial at Epsom HARBA in a 7f Fillies Maiden at Catterick Friday (entries) ATTY PERSSE in the 1m Esher Cup Handicap CRACKSMAN in the 1m2f G3 Classic Trial at Sandown CUNCO in the 1m2f G3 Classic Trial at Sandown FRANKUUS in the 1m2f G3 Classic Trial at Sandown MAJORIS in the 1m2f G3 Classic Trial at Sandown MONARCHS GLEN in the 1m2f G3 Classic Trial at Sandown NOTHING BUT DREAMS in a 1m2f Fillies Maiden at Sandown Saturday (entries) NOTHING BUT DREAMS in a 1m Fillies Maiden at Haydock
A bit on CRACKSMAN: Investec Derby Trial | 1m2f, 3yo | RUK John Gosden has won the last two runnings of this race with So Mi Dar (2016) and Cloud Nine (2015) and holds another strong hand with likely hot favourite Cracksman and Tartini. Cracksman sports the Anthony Oppenheimer colours which were memorably carried to Derby glory by Frankie Dettori aboard Golden Horn at Epsom two years ago, and hopes are high that the Frankel colt can develop into a high-class performer in his own right. Winner of his sole start at two in a backend Newmarket maiden, Cracksman made a good impression when running on strongly over a mile to beat Wild Tempest by a length and a quarter. He will be partnered by Dettori, while Tartini, also unbeaten after landing a Nottingham maiden last October, is the mount of Robert Tart. John Gosden, trainer of Cracksman and Tartini Cracksman is short on experience and this is the only chance he will have to run at the track before the Derby. He’s wintered nicely and, as I persuaded the owner to supplement him for Epsom, we’d better run him although he will come on for it. We see Tartini as more of a St Leger type and his chances would improve if there was a deluge of rain.
Interesting piece from Racing UK: http://www.racinguk.com/news/articl...hows-no-sign-of-slowing-down-as-classics-loom Frankel success story shows no sign of slowing down as Classics loom Tuesday 25 April 2017 Will Frankel be the sire of a Classic winner over the coming weeks? Andy Stephens spoke to John Gosden and Teddy Grimthorpe about his success story and the traits of his early offspring By Andy Stephens in Newmarket On a sunny but raw day in Newmarket on Tuesday, the heart was warmed by memories of Frankel past and present conjured by two men close to him and his progeny. Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for owner Prince Khalid Abdullah, and John Gosden, who will saddle two potential Investec Derby runners sired by the great horse tomorrow and on Friday, spoke with passion and pride about the thoroughbred who has already given so much - and is threatening to pass on his brilliance to a legion of new champions. There will never be a definitive answer to whether Frankel, who won all 14 of his races before being retired at the end of 2012, was the greatest the sport has seen. What is not in doubt is his early impact in his second vocation as a stallion for Juddmonte. Helped by liaisons with a string of top-class mares, Frankel was the leading first-season sire in the world last year on earnings. He also had more two-year-old Group winners than any other sire. This term, his stock have continued to thrive and the coming weeks will reveal whether he can have a Classic winner at the first attempt. Eminent and Dream Castle remain on course to represent him in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday week - they are among 19 left in the first race of this year’s Qipco British Champions Series - while Fair Eva is set to fly the flag for him in the 1000 Guineas 24 hours later. please log in to view this image Frankel is proving a a champion on and off the racecourse (Racingfotos.com) His possibly Derby contenders include Eminent, Cracksman and Monarchs Glen. The latter pair are trained by Gosden and will run in traditional trials for the Epsom showpiece by the end of the week. “I think people warm to the genuine superstars of all sports,” Grimthorpe said at Newmarket’s Jockey Club Rooms, where the walls are decorated by equine legends through the centuries. “The fantastic thing about Frankel is that he is something all racing can celebrate. He’s a tremendous magnet for it. “Usually, when a horse goes to stud the interest diminishes but, if anything, with him it’s grown. All his charity days are booked up, people want to see him and be photographed with him. “It’s a huge privilege to see him, be about him. We all love him, from Prince Khalid downwards.” It was almost a year ago that Cunco, trained by Gosden, gave Frankel a winner with his first runner as a sire. Since then, the victors have continued to flow for him all over the world but it has not been all plain sailing with some of his youngsters being headstrong and an enemy to themselves. That trait might have led to Frankel’s own downfall had he not been trained by a master. Gosden was among those fascinated by the relationship between the horse and Sir Henry Cecil, who was gravely ill at the time and died eight months after the horse had run his last race. “I used to watch him every morning,” Gosden said as he cast his eye over his own team of horses working on Warren Hill. “He was trained quite beautifully. Henry was firm with him, ‘I’m the boss, not you’ and he trained him with a lot of experience and nerve. “All Frankel wanted to do was run, a wonderful attribute, and enjoy himself running and using his action, which is exactly what you want in a racehorse. Henry was the master. He controlled his classroom.” Some breeders will tell you that the dam is a greater influence than the sire, perhaps 60-40, not least because they nurture the foal in his or her formative early months. However, any number of Frankel’s sons and daughters have the stamp of him. Gosden and Grimthorpe also believe he has passed on his formidable ability to cover a lot of ground in a short space of time, such as when he stretched 11 lengths clear in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot. “These Frankels have an extraordinary stride on them,” Gosden said. “Icespire [who will run at Ascot next week] is one of those.” Grimthorpe said: “What he gives them is that good stride, which was pretty devastating at the best of times. He also gives them that will to win. “Look at Eminent when he was galloping [in the Craven]. He really wanted to get on and do it. That was very reminiscent of his father. “The brilliance of Henry was that he channeled that energy.” Not all of Frankel’s early offspring have been so zestful. Cracksman, who runs in the Investec Derby Trial at Epsom tomorrow, is apparently a case in point. “He’s asleep all the time, bombproof,” Gosden said. “Some of them [the Frankels] are over-exuberant but he’s quite the other way. He’s like (mimicking an adolescent) ‘what, what did you say’? “Cracksman is going there for the experience. He’s fit but I don’t necessarily expect him to win because he’s just very babyish still and slow on the uptake. “He’s a lovely horse, don’t get me wrong, but he’s slow to get there mentally. He will come on, and you don’t half learn a lot at Epsom in a hurry.” Will the penny drop quick enough for Cracksman to emerge as a genuine Derby challenger, a race Gosden has twice won before with Benny The Dip and Golden Horn? The bookmakers offer a general 16-1. “You don’t go hunting for them [Derby horses], they come right through to you,” the 66-year-old said. “They present themselves. We may well have one.” Cracksman was initially entered in the 2000 Guineas but will not try and emulate Frankel’s freakish display of front-running in the 2011 running. “We very quickly worked out that it might all have happened before he got to the Bushes,” Gosden said. “Certainly, he will get a mile and a half. A lot of these Frankels are going to stay well.” Monarchs Glen, quoted at 25-1, is a different type. A striking winner of a handicap at Kempton on his return - for which he was raised 14lb to a mark of 101 - he contests the Classic Trial at Sandown on Friday, although if he does run at Epsom he would have be supplemented. “He’s strong-headed but a lovely horse and Sandown should suit him,” Gosden said. “He’s had a run, settled down, and always remember that for the first run of the year they are full of it. “That turn of foot he showed as as they passed the junction was a bit of a surprise to us.” Grimthorpe acknowledges the flying start Frankel has made in the breeding sheds but recognises his offspring have to build on early foundations. “These horses who have won maidens, conditions races and trials do have to go on,” he said. “The expectations are so enormous [with Frankel]. Everyone expects the spectacular every time something to do with him steps foot on a racecourse. He’s started off exceptionally well, but you have to be realistic. “Breeders [who pay £125,000 for a successful union] and punters are expecting him to deliver at the highest level and we are going to try and help him do that. “The die is pretty much cast now. He’s had fantastic books of mares, he’s been well supported in all his years at the stud, he’s very fertile, takes it all in his stride and he looks absolutely magnificent.” A Classic winner for him? “That would be more than good for job security,” he said, with a broad smile on his face.
What are the odds of a Frankel Guineas double? Looks very possible. And what odds a Frankel Oaks/Derby double? And of course to sire the winner of all 4?
When his first foals hit the ground he was quoted at Evens to get a British Classic winner in his first crop. I honestly can't remember another first season sire going into the first Classics with genuine chances in all 4 races. You come to expect it from the likes of Galileo, but for a first crop it's pretty amazing.
Updated: Wednesday (declared) CRACKSMAN in the Derby Trial at Epsom HARBA in a 7f Fillies Maiden at Catterick - non-runner Friday (declared) ATTY PERSSE in the 1m Esher Cup Handicap CUNCO in the 1m2f G3 Classic Trial at Sandown FRANKUUS in the 1m2f G3 Classic Trial at Sandown MONARCHS GLEN in the 1m2f G3 Classic Trial at Sandown Saturday (entries) NOTHING BUT DREAMS in a 1m Fillies Maiden at Haydock Sunday (entries) EUROPIUM in a 1m Maiden at Gowran Park FRIMA in a 1m Maiden at Gowran Park FRIMA in a 1m1.5f Fillies Maiden at Gowran Park SAN REMO in a 1m4.5f Handicap at Limerick Monday (entries) EXTRA MILE in a 1m2f Fillies Maiden at Beverley
Declarations/entries: Friday (declared) ATTY PERSSE in the 1m Esher Cup Handicap CUNCO in the 1m2f G3 Classic Trial at Sandown FRANKUUS in the 1m2f G3 Classic Trial at Sandown MONARCHS GLEN in the 1m2f G3 Classic Trial at Sandown Sunday (declarations) FRIMA in a 1m Maiden at Gowran Park SAN REMO in a 1m4.5f Handicap at Limerick Monday (entries) EXTRA MILE in a 1m2f Fillies Maiden at Beverley STRAIGHT SHOOTER in a Maiden at Saint-Cloud Tuesday (entries) HARBA in a 1m Maiden at Chelmsford Wednesday (entries) ICESPIRE in a 1m Fillies Conditions Race at Ascot SEVEN HEAVENS in the 6f G3 Pavillion Stakes at Ascot EXTRA MILE in a 1m2f Maiden at Pontefract THE GRAND VISIR in a 1m3.5f Maiden at Yarmouth HARBA in a 1m Fillies Maiden at Yarmouth NOTHING BUT DREAMS in a 1m Fillies Maiden at Yarmouth
Andre Fabre's STRAIGHT SHOOTER has been entered for a Maiden at Saint-Cloud on Monday. Here he is running in a trial race earlier this week: He holds entries in the Prix du Jockey Club and the Grand Prix de Paris.
Really excited about this one although hard to gauge the form from it. The whole race is on YouTube and he pulled pretty hard for pretty much the first half of the race so he must have a good engine to be powering on late at the end of the 2000m The beaten horses in behind also have Derby entries so they must be fairly highly thought of and because I'm a bit of a sad case I hand timed it and he was quicker than a listed race over C&D on the same day. So hopefully this all bodes well for his future
Looking forward to Wednesday - Nothing But Dreams Yarmouth, Drifters Fish And Chip Shop Maiden Fillies' Stakes Talking of fish & chips, did you know that A salt won the 1946 Triple Crown. Apparently he battered them.
Latest decs/entries: Monday (declared) EXTRA MILE in a 1m2f Fillies Maiden at Beverley STRAIGHT SHOOTER in a Maiden at Saint-Cloud Wednesday (declared) ICESPIRE in a 1m Fillies Conditions Race at Ascot SEVEN HEAVENS in the 6f G3 Pavillion Stakes at Ascot THE GRAND VISIR in a 1m3.5f Maiden at Yarmouth HARBA in a 1m Fillies Maiden at Yarmouth NOTHING BUT DREAMS in a 1m Fillies Maiden at Yarmouth FRANKED in a 1m2f Maiden at Chantilly Thursday (entries) YARAKI in a 6f Fillies Maiden at Redcar Friday (entries) ZEFFERINO in a 7f Maiden at Lingfield Saturday (entries) DREAM CASTLE in the G1 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket EMINENT in the G1 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket Sunday (entries) FAIR EVA in the G1 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket QUEEN KINDLY in the G1 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket
