Newbury Saturday preview: View from connections

1.30 Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Stakes

Charlie Appleby - Hurricane Lane (via www.godolphin.com): “He has been a grand horse for Godolphin, and we feel he should be able to pick up another major prize this year. With his programme, we are working back from the Arc, that’s our main aim. He revels in soft ground and there is a good chance he could get those conditions at Longchamp in October. You cannot fault the horse at home. He retains all his old zest and he looks great. We will know early in his five-year-old campaign whether or not the Arc is a realistic target.”

Ralph Beckett - Max Vega & Lone Eagle: “Both he and Lone Eagle are going to find it tough if the real Hurricane Lane is going to turn up. But he should run his race as normal. He is in good shape. Lone Eagle is new to us and I think the first-time headgear will be of some benefit, and likewise Jimi Hendrix on a comeback mission in the Spring Cup – the headgear there, I think we should have pulled the trigger earlier, but that’s down to his trainer!”

Richard Hannon - Mojo Star (via Unibet): “He has always been a very good colt but has had a few niggly issues which have kept him off the track and hasn’t run since putting up a brilliant effort when second in the Gold Cup. He’s done plenty of work and been away to gallop so should be pretty straight. But this is his first run in a while, so he’s entitled to improve for it and we’re working back from the Ascot Gold Cup. I’m very happy with him and while the trip is on the short side, this is a good place to kick off his season.”

Clive Hadingham of Surrey Mist's owners Surrey Racing: “We could do with a bit more rain, which will hopefully test the fitness of the main protagonists as we already have one run under our belt this season. Having said that, it’s a very competitive race – we may have to get creative with our tactics!”

2.05 Dubai Duty Free Stakes

Tom Pennington, Amo’s racing manager - Magical Sunset & Olivia Maralda: “To beat Sakheer on debut on quick ground at Windsor was impressive and she was a bit unlucky not to win the Goffs Million at the Curragh, she suffered some really bad interference at halfway. To then have the guts to run on and finish fourth, we were delighted with that. She obviously came back and won well at Leicester under James Doyle and then backed it up with the good win in the Radley Stakes at Newbury. We thought she would run well at Newbury but we didn’t think she would win by five lengths, so we were delighted by that. Richard is very happy with her and she has been showing him all the right signs at home.”

“I thought Olivia Maralda was going to win the Debutante Stakes. She was sort of the last filly off the bridle and travelled into it very well. Then it was perhaps a bridge too far at Newmarket – she was just beginning to turn in her coat and it was probably just one race too many, she was over the top. Roger is very happy with her which is the main thing and she hasn’t missed a day this spring.”

Ralph Beckett - Remarquee: “She has done well this winter. She will need the run, but she is training well.”

Thady Gosden - Bridestones: "She is a nicely-bred filly and has done well over the winter. It is a hugely competitive race, but we are looking forward to it. We will learn a bit more about her, I’m sure.”

Karl Burke - Swingalong: “She is in great form and has been training very well,” said Burke of the Showcasing filly, who steps up to seven furlongs for the first time. I’m confident she’ll stay the seven and we’ll make the decision about the mile after that. It is a competitive race, no doubt about it. There looks to be some very nice fillies in it, so it is going to be tough, but she is in good form. She’s matured really well and wintered very well and she looks great.”

2.40 Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes

Frankie Dettori - Chaldean: “I didn’t want to let go of this one and I’m really looking forward to getting on him again. He was a very good two-year-old last year, winning the Dewhurst, which often proves to be the best race juvenile race of the season. Before that, he was a comfortable winner of the Champagne Stakes, and the second, Indestructible, came out and won the Craven this week.”

James Ferguson - Zoology: “He’s in great form, I’m really happy with him. He did a nice piece of work the other day and has come out of Southwell in great order. The form was massively franked with Covey winning at Newmarket. We obviously beat him with a 7lb penalty and I know that horse was first time out, but a 7lb penalty is enough. It’s obviously a massive step up, but I really hope for Sheikh Fahad and everybody he can go and run really well.”

Thady Gosden - Theoryofeverything: “He won well on debut at Doncaster at the start of the season. He is a smartly-bred colt so we decided he should take his chance in a very competitive race. It is as strong a Greenham as we have seen for a while with plenty of smart horses in there and obviously it will be only his second run of his life.

“He is coming up against some much more experienced colts. It is a big step up from a maiden novice on soft ground. They’re forecast a little bit of rain on Friday night into Saturday morning and it is probably holding ground at the moment after a couple of drying days. He is a good-moving colt who obviously handled deep ground at Doncaster and he’ll handle the ground at Newbury.”

Eve Johnson Houghton - Streets Of Gold: “He is really well, he has wintered well so I’m very happy with him. He’s not the biggest horse and he hasn’t grown, but he’s filled out and muscled up. He seems in great form. He has never been a flashy work horse, but he’s been working much better this year. It’s no easy feat to win five on the bounce, he just kept rolling and getting better and better.

“It’s a great starting point for him. I love Newbury as a racecourse, it is just down the road from us. If Streets of Gold wins the Greenham or runs well in the Greenham, he will be heading for the English 2000 Guineas. I would be very confident that he would handle the undulations at Newmarket and I have no concerns with trip.”

Roger Varian - Charyn: “He’s a nice colt. He has only got four runs under his belt but has some very good form. He was good in his novices and then ran a nice race behind Sakheer in the Mill Reef where I felt he was still learning his trade, but he showed a good level in winning the Group Two at Chantilly in October. He’s a pretty solid horse who shouldn’t mind the forecast cut in the ground. It is likely to be a strong Greenham but he is a colt we like and how he performs will give us a bit of a steer as to where we go with him. But he’s training nicely, looks the part and we’re looking forward to running him.”

Ralph Beckett - Greys Monument: “He will need the run and this is on the sharp side for him.”

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