John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on Monday.
Three points of interest
Pearls can win again for in-form Prescott
This is the time of year to catch Sir Mark Prescott’s horses. July was much the stable’s best month last year when they had 14 winners at a tremendous 39% strike rate and this month’s performance isn’t too far behind, with 11 winners (and 9 seconds) on the board to date for a strike rate of 31%, giving Newmarket’s longest-serving handler the ‘Hot Trainer’ flag.
Kirsten Rausing’s filly String of Pearls has already contributed to the yard’s success this summer by winning at Goodwood last month and she’s capable of following up over an extra couple of furlongs in Yarmouth’s mile and three quarter handicap (15:15). String of Pearls has a typical profile for a Prescott improver in handicaps, having had three quick runs late last year before stepping up in trip this season. She was green when making her reappearance at Newmarket over a mile and a quarter and still looked to be learning when getting off the mark at Goodwood last time over a mile and a half, racing lazily but ultimately rallying to beat Masterinthewoods (a close second since at Epsom) by a length and a quarter, earning the ‘Horse In Focus’ flag.
Prescott also won races with both String of Pearls’ dam and grandam, her dam Songerie being a smart middle-distance stayer, while String of Pearls’ siblings include Summer Moon who was also smart and was twice placed in the Cesarewitch. That points to String of Pearls being well suited by this increased test of stamina herself, and there should be plenty more improvement to come from her.
Davy Crockett bids to keep up family record at Galway Festival
The week-long Galway Festival gets underway with a mixed card on Monday evening and Willie Mullins can get the meeting off to the best possible start by winning the opening novice hurdle for four-year-olds (17:10) with Davy Crockett in the J. P. McManus colours.
Mullins has won two of the last four editions of this race, notably in 2023 with Annie Power’s first foal Mystic Power who became a leading novice hurdler that season, going on to win in Grade 1 company at Aintree and Punchestown the following spring. Davy Crockett is none other than a half-brother to Mystic Power and, like his sibling, he goes to Galway for his first start over hurdles after a successful debut in a bumper. By the way, Annie Power, who of course ended up winning the Champion Hurdle for Mullins, began her career winning a bumper on her debut at the 2012 Galway Festival when trained by Jim Bolger.
Davy Crockett’s debut came at Punchestown last month when he looked a chip off the old block, showing his inexperience but bursting clear when Patrick Mullins asked him to take over and pulling nine lengths clear. The runner-up, incidentally, Maskarvel, runs in the bumper that concludes Monday’s card. Davy Crockett looks an exciting hurdling prospect and can prove too good for those who already have some experience in this sphere.
Rubellite to make winning start for Fahey
Richard Fahey’s stable might not be firing on all cylinders at present, but he had a potentially useful two-year-old winner Golden Palace at York on Saturday, and the yard could well be among the winners again at both Ayr and Southwell on Monday.
An interesting runner at Southwell is the mare Rubellite who makes her first start for Fahey in the handicap over a mile and three quarters (20:30) and has the ‘Trainer Uplift’ flag following her change of stables. A strong-travelling type, she has already had a very successful campaign for her previous trainer, Stella Barclay, winning four times on the all-weather between January and March. Her first two wins came in classified stakes at Newcastle and Southwell, and she carried her good form into handicaps with further wins at Newcastle and Wolverhampton. It was only another pair of in-form rivals who prevented her winning again when she was third in an apprentice race back at Southwell in early-April on her final start for her previous stable.
Rubellite’s latest win came over this evening’s trip, and if she’s in the same form as she was prior to her break, she would hold leading claims in a wide-open race.
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