Alex Hammond Blog: All-Weather Finals preview

What did you make of the Classic trials at Newbury last weekend?

It was an absolute joy to be at Newbury at the weekend and there was a real buzz about the place with Flat racing back for 2025. The weather was glorious, and the track welcomed a crowd that was up dramatically on the previous year.

The racing over the two days was superb with some gorgeous young horses at the beginning of their careers complemented by the quality thread running through Saturday’s card with the Greenham and Fred Darling.

The lesser fancied fillies dominated the Fred Darling with 33/1 shot Duty First winning for Archie Watson and Hollie Doyle. Whilst her price didn’t suggest she’d been catching pigeons on the Lambourn gallops, Doyle said afterwards that the performance came as no surprise to them. The filly will be supplemented for the Betfred 1000 Guineas now as she doesn’t hold an entry for the Classic next month. She’s 16/1 with Sky Bet for that.

The Greenham is often a race that sorts the milers from the sprinters and the colts also attempted to stretch out over the seven-furlong straight track at Newbury. Coventry winner Rashabar set the standard here and is a solid yardstick having finished runner-up in the Prix Morny and Prix Jean-Luc Lagadere at two. He ran well to finish second again behind a rocket in the shape of Jonquil.

It was a hugely successful weekend for his trainer Andrew Balding who had taken over the training of Jonquil on the retirement of Sir Michael Stoute. The colt showed a smart burst of speed, but the vibe seems to be one of speed for this son of Lope De Vega. He’s an enthusiastic racer and has pace to burn. The mile trip in the Guineas may well stretch him and he’s now 20/1 to win at Newmarket. His owners Juddmonte also have 6/1 second favourite Cosmic Year who looked very smart when winning at Kempton novice earlier this month.

Which other horses are you taking forward with you from the two days?

Well, I’ll need a large horsebox to take them all home! There were several notable performances for fair reasons and foul. The unluckiest was Crown Of Oaks who ran on Saturday. He’s a stunning looking individual and it was frustrating to see him meet trouble in the mile maiden, finishing in third. Trainer William Haggas will be keen to see him get his head in front before making grander plans and the colt holds entries in the Dante and Irish Derby, which shows the regard in which he is held. That maiden was one the trainer has won in the recent past with My Prospero and Economics.

The same team had better luck with Consecrated on Friday. She looks to have an incredible stride and ate up the ground from the front to win as she liked for owner/breeders Cheveley Park Stud.

Gethin is another colt with a bright future, and he won Friday’s ten-furlong novice in stylish fashion for trainer Owen Burrows. He did well to finish strongly having run keenly early on but there was plenty under the bonnet when push came to shove. It’ll be a Derby trial for him next.

James Fanshawe looks to have unearthed another smart prospect in the shape of Back In Black. Macadamia, Cesare, and Deacon Blues have all won hot handicaps at Royal Ascot for the stable in the past and this lad looks capable of heading there too. You can mark up the performance because he was the only horse to win from off the pace and he recorded the fastest top speed of any horse too on Friday.

Whilst I’m sure the trainer has some decent prizes in his sights, he insisted that Newbury was the target, but you could do worse than put this lad in whichever your tracker of choice is. Maybe he’ll head for a Britannia, or maybe he’s better than that and could be targeted at the Jersey Stakes. Either way, he’s smart.

Andrew Balding has hit the ground running and his four timer on Saturday was kicked off by Divina Grace in the John Porter. She still looked wintery (hairy) and was some way off being the paddock pick on her first start for the stable, but that didn’t stop her, and they’ll have some fun with her this season. The runner-up Tabletalk also ran a cracking race in defeat, and he could be a Cup horse as the season progresses.

How much are you looking forward to All-Weather Finals Day?

So, Friday marks the culmination of the 12th All-Weather Championship season, a concept has grown year on year. Good Friday’s cards are valuable and extremely competitive, and it’s been marvellous to see the various competitive threads running through the campaign.

The duel that has captured most people’s imagination is that to be AW Champion Jockey and Hector Crouch and at the time, Luke Morris, must have thought all their birthdays had come at once when Billy Loughnane decided to spend several weeks riding in Australia this winter.

However, having engaged the services of super-agent Tony Hind, Billy had laid his cards firmly on the table and for anyone that knows Bony (as Hind is known) it was a statement of intent from the 2023 Champion Apprentice that he meant business.

Hind has made nine champion flat jockeys in his time. The deficit was soon reduced, and Billy now holds the narrow advantage at the time of writing. He looks to have the stronger week in prospect and looks likely to spend Final’s Day at Lingfield, with Crouch competing in the cauldron of Final’s Day itself at Newcastle. Much like the National Hunt trainer’s championship, this is going right down to the wire and has been an entertaining sub-plot to the season.

I’ll be at Newcastle for Sky Sports and can’t wait to watch it all unfold.

What are your bests for the meeting?

As it stands, we don’t have final fields, and I haven’t got stuck into my prep so I’m not nailing my colours to the mast just yet. Having said that Marshman ran well at Doncaster last time in the Cammidge Trophy when not getting the best run when third behind his stablemate Spycatcher giving weight to all bar one runner. He should appreciate the switch back to an artificial surface.

Glen Buck isn’t the most robust having run just five times at the age of six, but he’s won four of those and should go well in the Easter Classic for trainer Roger Varian. As for the rest, you’ll have to wait for Newcastle on Friday when I’ll be fully across all seven races.

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