Very strange - Kings Lynn is showing on RP as being in the ownership of the King and Queen, having been in the ownership of Andrew Balding from 31 July until 3 August.
Winner in the Royal colours at Deauville today. One of the pony races though and not owned by the King. However there is a 10 year old jockey who will always be able to say he rode a winner in the Royal colours.
For the third day a Royal winner: Hard to Resist, having finished last of 6 at Newbury late June led all the way to win over a furlong further. She led all the way and fought gamely to hold off the challenge of her more experienced favourite. She can improve further and may improve enough to get black type over 7-8f. Well-named and well-bred being a Dubawi filly out of the listed winner (and Royal Ascot 2nd) Magnetic Charm. Her dam was a bit brittle as a 2yo running promising races then running disappointingly. She is the 3rd 2yo winner from about 6 Royal 2yos to run so far this year. She was to be the third Royal horse to run today at Newmarket but the other two, Lady Wulfrun and Market Value, were withdrawn because of the soft ground. I mentioned it because Kings Lynn was shown as owned by Mr A M Balding in the Weekender card for the Stewards Cup. Perhaps it was a bit premature.
With more 2yos likely to start in the next two months I thought I'd take a look at the trainers and their 2yos Beckett: has 5 2yos 2 runners 2 wins 1 winner Balding: has 5 2yos 2 runners 1 win 1 placed Haggas: has 5 2yos 1 runner 1 win Gosden: has 4 2yos 1 runner Prescott: has 2 2yos Stoute: has 1 2yo So far, 6 runners has produced 3 winners of 4 races. Not a bad start but horses are supposed to run so of the 21 so far named as being in training only 6 runners equates to less than 30%. 2 others are yet to be placed with a trainer. Training is very different to that of 20 years ago. Now there are pretraining centres (Adam Kirby's is an example) where horses are taught to do the basics and readied for training stables. Before horses arrived in October/November. Serried Ranks is on ratings the best so far. We will have to see how Works of Art (Balding) and Hard to Resist (Haggas) progress. Lady Wulfrun (Balding) looks to have ability but is waiting for firmer ground. Welsh Harbour (Beckett) looks a dead loss and Crown Estate (Gosden) is very disappointing.
Got it today and won on her handicap debut. Still looks green and not an overly big filly. You'd imagine a filly by Saxon Warrior out of a 12f winner should stay further. .
Always keep an eye on gallops reports and Market Value got a positive one this week. She's a Siyouni daughter of Gold Cup winner Estimate so could stay any distance. So far her only win was over an extended 9f at Ripon, but she should stay further than that. It looks to me as if she needs good ground and will be looking out for her in the coming 6 weeks before the likely easier ground. Estimate has not been a great success as a mare but it's always difficult to get the right sire for a horse who excels at 16f+. To date she's had 6 foals in training with 3 winners (the other two being the stayers Calculation and Evaluation). One, by Frankel, never made it to the races. On Sunday her 6th foal makes his debut in a 7f maiden at Sandown for newcomers. He's the only Royal 2yo in training with Stoute. Reaching High is the first foal to come from a mating with Sea the Stars, so here's hoping they've found the right partner this time. Balding goes for a second 7f Nursery at Newmarket with Lady Wulfrun. She got a 6lb lift for last Saturday's victory which was hard fought but this Saxon Warrior always looked to be doing enough. She's improving and must be in the mix for this valuable Nursery. Her dam, Good Hope, is the last real hope for the mighty Feola family in the Royal Stud. You have to admit she's doing her best as she seems very fertile and keeps having fillies. Lady Wulfrun's elder sister is Candle of Hope (who badly needs a race on firm ground), while there's a yearling filly by Sea the Moon and a filly foal by Ulysses. It's my great wish that one or two of these fillies re-establishes the family of Highclere, Nashwan and Baaeed in the Royal Stud.
Given the standard Michael Stoute debut: not really touched. Quite a good looking horse though. Perhaps another run and put away for next year. Is this Stoute's last Royal 2yo: could be? King's Lynn is now the property of Andrew Balding. I'd imagine it was a gift. 4 wins and 13 places he's won more than £300k in winnings and owes no-one anything. Hard to Resist who got few plaudits for her recent win at Newmarket surprisingly gets an entry for the Boussac. She's also entered for the 7f Prestige Stakes at Goodwood on Saturday. Lady Wulfrun went everywhere on the track except the Ladies (sorry Female) toilet on Saturday at Newmarket (to paraphrase Jeremy Tree). Can't help but think she didn't get the best of rides from Probert. Ridden more positively last time out and should have had much more made of her given her experience.
Forgot to say Reach for the Moon has been sent to Jamie Snowden. No great hopes here for a hurdling future unless the sight of a jump excites him.
A handicap win by Reminder at Windsor takes the The King's score to 13 for the year. The Royal Stud has done slightly better as sold horses have gone on and won. Reminder (by Dubawi) is well bred and well related but atypical as her two wins have have been over 6f, a distance none of her siblings have won over (4 of them have won over distances of 7f to 16f). She's no world-beater but may have done enough to take a place in the stud. Her dam, Memory, is a 15yo and has an unraced Galileo daughter in the stud, Thought Process, who has a filly foal by Dubawi. Memory does have a 2yo filly called Rainbows Edge (by Night of Thunder), a yearling filly by Kingman and a filly foal by Palace Pier: so there are other options. Perhaps a more interesting run was Hard to Resist's 3rd in the Group 3 Prestige Stakes (formerly the Waterford Candelabra Stakes).She is by Dubawi and has earned her first black type. She won a 7f maiden at Newmarket two weeks ago on good ground but looked to be struggling in the softer ground today. In fact it all seemed over 2f out when she lost her place and was last. She rallied after the furlong pole and though still 5th half a furlong out made up a lot of ground to be a rapidly diminishing head behind the second. Hard to Resist had the lowest RPR rating in the race and was rated 14lb below the horse who beat her a head. So taking her a yardstick she improved by 13lb. I don't think she quite did that but she is going the right way. She should get a mile.
In some ways, I guess, you can say that this is a big statement and they obviously feel Reach For The Moon could, potentially, have a huge future over the sticks. Had they cashed in and put him through the sales ring you would have to imagine, given the current state of the market, a 6 figure price could easily have been achieved - Australia and the Middle East, in particular, would have been big bidders you would have to think. There are though, at the time of writing, no prices quoted re Reach For The Moon and fancy NH engagements. I know the old girl has long standing links with the Snowden yard but am slightly insulted that Reach For The Moon wasn't sent to Seven Barrows. Just imagine what the great man could achieve with the ex-Gosden inmate...
Not sure I can share your enthusiasm. He has trained right off and of the 30 or so horses he ran against this year he managed to beat one. The Squire of Seven Barrows has probably dodged a bullet. But a change of scenery and/or an obstacle to jump can do wonders to some horses.
Could be a bit harsh there Bustino. He had some decent 2yo form (winning a G3 and 2nd in a G2), and as a 3yo (2nd in a listed and a G3), until that one bad race, a G3, over an inadequate distance in heavy ground, following which the poor thing was gelded His 2 runs since the op have been over 9f in a G3 and 8f in a 90k Class 2 handicap where, apart from 1, was conceding up to 16lbs. In the former he dwelt at the start, pulled hard and ran too freely. In the latter he was up with the leaders but weakened over 2 out. I suspect he couldn't go the pace I fail to understand why he wasn't tried over longer distances, given his pedigree (Sea The Stars out of a Sadler's Wells mare). He is still only 4 and a half with plenty of maturing to do. I think he just needs a trainer with patience and a rider who can teach him to settle and, if he does take to the jumps, could be an interesting proposition as a 6yo, if not before
More than 2 weeks without a winner but this week is a big one for the King/Royal Stud. Tomorrow Hard to Resist goes for the Gp2 May Hill Stakes and faces her Godwood Candelabra Stks winner, Darnation. Hard to Resist has to improve 5lb more than Darnation does to beat her which looks tough. However HtR has improved more than that on each of her runs. Still tough Marquand rides for his boss Haggas. Haggas runs his second 2yo, again a filly, Kings Ginger. She is by Kingman out of Sweet Idea, who was a top class Australian racefilly. As a mare she's been a damp squibb. Sent to Galileo (3 times) and Dubawi she has produced the disappointing Companionship (who did win a small race) and the woeful General Idea. Perhaps this is the one. The final Haggas runner is Desert Hero in the Leger. So a big week for Haggas and Marquand too. The lack of 2yo runners is a worry. Horses are bred to run and the Royal 2yos with a few exceptions aren't.
3rd was the best he could do. Marquand said he could have done with a bit more pace as he wasn't travelling as well as he has in faster run races. My guess is that he'll be kept in training and be aimed at 12f races next year. Haggas's comment pre race were informative. He reckoned the colt didn't thrive over the Winter and early Spring and that when he made his debut mid-May he wasn't at all tuned to run. After that race he came on leaps and bounds. The Leger 3rd was his best piece of form so far and hopefully more improvement is to come. His uncle Dartmouth was a much better 4yo than 3yo, and won the John Porter, Ormonde and Hardwicke. Hard to Resist tried her best but the 2+ lengths of the Goodwood race turned into 7 lengths on Thursday. Everyone seemed to think Hard to Resist would be better over 8f, but if anything she faded in the last furlong. Perhaps 7f is her limit on soft ground. King's Ginger was withdrawn, presumably because of the soft ground. As far as I can see there is only one Royal 2yo entered in the next 6 days. At this time of year you'd expect more.
Re Reach For The Moon I see its being reported that he won't be arriving at the Snowden barn until November with a first run over hurdles anticipated 'at some point in the New Year'. Might be a while, therefore, before he makes his timber bow. Meanwhile can I just say a few words about former inmate, Tactical. Lowered another 4 lbs after his run at Donny, last week, and now rated in the 80's - I say the bally 80's!!! Has he totally gone at the game or is the old boy, off 89, potentially one of the best handicapped horses in training?!? Has now fallen a full stone since his last run for the Balding stable.
Barren period for the Royal horses, though the sold General Idea managed to win a claimer in Ireland. None of the King's horses have won since late August. Some of them have run stinkers. Sales coming up and Balding has Barrier and Lady Wulfrun entered, while the Gosdens have Saga going and Haggas gets rid of Educator. Stoute lets go of Marching Band, while Prescott has the unraced Tented Camp up for sale. Other than Desert Hero there doesn't look to be any 4yos next year, unless Slipofthepen reappears: he was taken out of training two weeks ago. I suppose Lady Wulfrun is the biggest surprise but she does appear to be small and lacking in scope. The big sale will be breeding stock in December (Fillies and Mares). A real departure would be if any yearlings or foals are sold. The current disappointment must be how few 2yos have run..
In a lean period, Works of Art puts £30,000 plus in the kitty after her 2nd in the Redcar Sales race. Actually a good performance for her as the winner has an OR of 96 yet Works of Art was giving her weight. Must raise Works of Art's rating to the low 90s. A new 2yo is entered this coming week in the shape of The King's General who is nicely bred, being by Dubawi out of Daphne. So he's a half-brother to the useful Perfect Alibi. Trained by the Gosdens we have to hope he's better than the trainer's other Dubawi 2yo, Crown Estate, who is entered in the Horses in Training Sales (missed that). Prescott's Tented Camp is also likely to run so perhaps she'll get a reprieve from her Sales date. King's Ginger gets a couple of entries so is likely to run somewhere.
