Newmarket review: Living Legend an 11/1 Value Bet winner

Yibir enjoyed a fantastic campaign in 2021, with success in the Great Voltigeur at York proving a springboard to international honours as he won the Jockey Club Derby at Belmont and the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar.

Following a narrow reverse in the Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan, Charlie Appleby’s charge appeared to face a relatively straightforward task on his return to Britain – and was priced up accordingly at 1/4.

But while Yibir travelled powerfully in midfield for much of the way, it was clear racing inside the final two furlongs that he was struggling to bridge the gap and he had to make do with the runner-up spot.

Mark Johnston, who now trains in partnership with son Charlie, had saddled the last two winners of the Group Two contest in Communique and Sir Ron Priestley, and Living Legend was an 11/1 shot to make it a hat-trick on the Rowley Mile.

Fresh from winning the Easter Classic on All-Weather Championships Finals Day at Newcastle a fortnight ago, the six-year-old proved himself just as effective back on turf as he found plenty for Joe Fanning to keep the market leader at bay by a length and three-quarters.

Barbara Richmond, who owns Living Legend with her husband Alick, said: “This horse is just staggeringly good. We were going to put him in the Huxley Stakes next week at Chester, but we had a long conversation between Mark and Charlie and Joe and ourselves and actually it was Alick who said let’s run here.

“We had a big horse to beat here, he’s a very good horse is Yibir, but we have a good horse as well and we’re absolutely over the moon as it’s our first Group win.”

Johnston senior added: “We never run away from one horse. As normal I didn’t give any instructions to the jockey, but Barbara gave him a long talking to! She told him ‘we’re not here for a laugh, we’re here to win’ and she was right. I might take her to every race now!

“Barbara says we’re going to supplement him for the Coronation Cup (at Epsom). She was looking last night at the cost of supplementing him for Epsom and said if he won this that’s what she’d do. So you know, if that’s what she wants that’s what we’ll do.

“We always thought he was a seriously good horse, but he got a very bad injury – I think he had over two seasons off and there looked to be no future for him at all, we couldn’t even give him away as a riding horse.

“I said to Barbara ‘we’re not taking any horse on a no-racing agreement; we’re only taking him on the long odds chance he can come back to the track’.

“So we took him on and turned him out in the field, gave him two years off and then brought him back and he won at Pontefract and so we said to Barbara ‘do you want him back?’. And the rest is history.”

Perfect Pride storms home

Nations Pride further strengthened Charlie Appleby’s formidable three-year-old squad with a dominant display in the Best Odds On The Betfair Exchange Newmarket Stakes.

As well as saddling the first two in the betting for Saturday’s Qipco 2000 Guineas in Native Trail and Coroebus, Appleby has unearthed a clutch of potentially high-class middle-distance colts this spring, with New London, Walk Of Stars and Nahanni among those to throw their hat into the ring for the Derby.

Nations Pride is not entered for the premier Classic as things stand, but certainly looks in that bracket judged on his runaway success on the Rowley Mile.

A dual winner on the all-weather at the backend of his juvenile campaign, the Teofilo colt made a smart return in the Jumeirah Derby at Meydan in February to earn himself a shot at this Listed prize.

After taking a lead from the front-running Austrian Theory for a long way, the 7-4 chance rocketed clear racing out of the top and passed the post with seven lengths in hand under William Buick.

Hoo Ya Mal stayed on to fill the runner-up spot, with 13-8 favourite Subastar only third.

“I’m pleased with that, he’s progressed with every run,” Appleby said of the winner.

“He came out to Dubai and we pinpointed one race out there, the Jumeirah Derby.

“The one thing me and William decided was to use his experience from a little way out today, but I’m not saying that’s what has won the race because I think he’s a nice horse and going up in trip further will only suit him.

“We’ll see what Will has to say, but I see no reason why he won’t get a mile and a half.”

While Appleby is not ruling out the possibility of supplementing Nations Pride for the Derby, it appears more likely he will sidestep Epsom in favour of an appearance at Royal Ascot.

“He’s in the King Edward VII Stakes, but we’ll see how the Derby picture unfolds,” the trainer added.

“We’ll find out more over the next two weeks or so how that picture is going to look. I’d be (leaning) more towards Ascot, but we’ll see how the cards fall into place.

“He’s a nice horse and the Derby is a race we all want to win, but two weeks later Ascot is around the corner and you have to keep a few fresh legs for it.”

Noble victory

Appleby and Buick completed a quickfire Listed double in the following Betfair King Charles II Stakes, with Noble Truth also blitzing his rivals in superb style.

A Listed winner at two and only narrowly denied by Ralph Beckett’s Angel Bleu in the Group One Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at ParisLongchamp, the son of Kingman was tailed off in the Saudi Derby in February.

But switching back from dirt to turf, the 7-4 favourite proved a completely different proposition as he went straight to the lead readily pulled six lengths clear Honey Sweet.

Appleby added: “I have to give a lot of credit to Nathan who rides him at home as he pulls like an express train. He was happy to have a day off from riding him today to give his arms a rest!

“The plan was to just jump out and get away from everyone else and see if we could relax and get into a bit of a rhythm.

“He’s a good horse with some rock-solid juvenile form and we can disregard his run in Saudi as he’s just one of those horses that doesn’t turn up on dirt.

“Crossing the line there the first thought that went through my mind was that he could be a Jersey horse as he might be a bit vulnerable over a mile, but in fairness he wasn’t stopping.

“William actually got off and said he thinks he has enough natural pace to come back to six furlongs, so whether that puts him into a Commonwealth Cup type of horse, we’ll see.

“I would have to supplement him for the Commonwealth, so we’ll go back and have a good chat about it all. If we feel that he’s a live contender, he might be able to make his money back trying to win it.”

Egan and Varian at the double

Newmarket trainer Roger Varian and jockey David Egan ended day one of the Guineas Festival on a high when they were responsible for the winners of the final two races, recording a 6.2/1 double in the process.

First up was three year old filly Voodoo Queen (13/8), who took the Betfair Maiden Fillies' Stakes (1m 2f) by a length.

Varian said: “It has been a frustrating day but I’m pleased she has won. She had experience on some of the field but it was a messy race and they went slow and it became a three or four furlong dash to the line which would not have necessarily suited her. It probably didn’t suit many in the field.

“She showed a good attitude and I think she has got a bright future. I was worried maybe with four to run but then the gap came quite quickly and it was probably a good job it came at the time that it did as it meant David (Egan) could put her into position and she did the hard bit. If she hadn't got out then the field might have had the sprint on her and she might have been in trouble and it was important she got out when she did.

“She will stay well. Watching the race there they could have gone another furlong or two and not got by her.

“She has got some lovely entries but I train for the most fantastic man Craig Bennett who puts us under no pressure. Nothing will be decided today. I told him before she ran today that I think she is a filly for black type races quite how and when we go about it we will let the filly tell us. I’m delighted for Craig as he has got his own breeding operation, not with a huge band of mares but a select band of high quality mares, and hopefully this filly will be one of them one day.”

Legend Of Dubai (7/4 favourite) collected the concluding Daily Tips On Betting.Betfair Handicap (1m), scoring impressively by four and a quarter lengths in the colours of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum.

Varian commented: “This horse went to Doncaster as a two year old for a nursery rated 85 and I thought he was as good as home and the horse who beat him, Lone Eagle, went on to finish second in the Irish Derby. He then got an injury in March and missed most of last year and then came out and won over far too far at Ffos Las in August, scraping home and getting a win by his name, and then we left him alone.

“I think we’ll campaign him over a mile this year, we work him with a lot of pace at home and he’s a fast ground horse who wouldn’t want loose or soft ground. He could be a nice horse, perhaps something like the Royal Hunt Cup (at Royal Ascot) could be an option, but we’ll have to see what the handicapper does."

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