Charlie Appleby explained Cloudbridge's poor effort as the ground not being fast enough for him. Jesus, the going was good ffs, how fast does he need it? I would humbly suggest that if the horse runs as bad as that on good ground they may as well retire him or take him onto Formula 1 tracks to race. The vet examined Cloudbridge and reported that the horse was displaying a prolonged recovery rate. There was clearly a lot more behind that dismal run than Charlie Appleby's lame waffle of an excuse and he should be getting the horse checked over for answers.
Some horses from fine families today. The fillies race was supposed to be an Oaks Trial for Sea Empress but it didn't turn out that way. This race has been won in the past by many fine fillies and probably the best was Sea of Class. It has been won by a couple of Oaks winners though and the most recent was the Michael Jarvis trained Eswarah. Today the same stable's Eshaada took the race. For a second start it was a very good performance. Whether it justifies her turning up at Epsom we'll have to see. Two things about her pedigree. The first is that this filly comes from a really good family. Her 4th dam is Allegretta, who was the dam of Kings Best but more importantly of Urban Sea (dam of Galileo and Sea the Stars). Eshaada may fall shortin many areas but it won't be in the class of her family. The second thing is that the sire is champion sprinter Muharrar. Now this may surprise some but it's been noticeable that Muharrar is getting horses that stay a good deal further than he did. Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise as Muharrar's sire Oasis Dream was similarly Champion Sprinter yet sired the middle distance filly Midday. These things happen. Al Aasy could not have won the Aston Park Stakes with more contempt. By Sea the Stars he's out of a Shamardal mare who comes from another good family. It is the family of that very good horse Pentire who deserved more than the great heights he achieved but more so it is the family of that tough Derby winner Shirley Heights.
I'm really enjoying this start to the flat season - particularly as there seem to be a number of very good horses spread around the various yards. Whilst I am the first to acknowledge what Aiden O'Brien has achieved it is nice to see some of the other trainers getting some really good horses. In the UK training ranks it seems to me that Stoute and Gosden have finally been joined by Haggas and Varian at the top table and they are starting to fill the huge void left by HRA Cecil.
