Andrew Balding is set to field a strong and varied team across the two days of the Dubai Future Champions Festival at Newmarket this week.
He talked the Jockey Club through his leading contenders.
Forbidden Fire - bet365 Fillies' Mile (Friday)
"She is a lovely filly. She's beautifully bred. She always looked like she had some ability. She started really well at Salisbury and stepped up on that again, second time out in a Listed race against colts.
“The form has worked out well. The third horse, Nabati, has won the Mill Reef Stakes after that, so she's relatively lightly raced, with just two starts, and I hope there's still improvement in her. The question mark is probably stepping up to a mile. Her siblings have deceived me in staying further than we ever thought they would. It's probably worth a go, and she's got the class. I'd hope to be very competitive in the bet365 Fillies' Mile.
"I think if you can be competitive in a Fillies' Mile, you know where your stall's going to be set for next season. So part of the reason we're running there is a fact-finding mission, and particularly in terms of trip, I think we need to establish that as quickly as we can. If there is a chance she'll stay a mile, she's, as I say, a high-class filly and travels very strongly, very straightforward, and I'd hope she'd run well."
Scommessa Sicura - bet365 Fillies' Mile (Friday)
"She has been so consistent this year. She's had plenty of racing. She's never run a bad race, and she was second in the May Hill, second in the Stonehenge. She won her maiden at the July meeting.
"I think the fillies this year are a particularly strong group at all distances, and she mixed it with some of the best of them. It's great for Opulence to have a filly like her competing at the top level, and they've been owners with us for a while. Very understanding, very patient owners, and it's lovely to have a nice horse for them."
Gentle Hurricane - Darley Dewhurst Stakes (Saturday)
"I thought he ran very well in the Acomb on only his second start. I think we expected a lot more in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster.
“We've got very few other places to go with him at this moment in time, so I think we'll be looking at the Dewhurst and hope he can run well. And if he can finish in the top four, we'd be thrilled and setting him up nicely for next year.
"The Dewhurst, for as long as I've been alive, has been the number one two-year-old race in Europe. It really defines which is the best colt of each generation, and it's historically always a very strong race."
Tactician, Shrimp Shady & Berkshire Sundance - Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap (Saturday)
"Tactician would only run if there was some give in the ground. He had a long time off. Came back, ran a very good race in a Listed race at Chester. It was better than we were expecting, which affected his mark for the Cesarewitch, which was unfortunate. But he's a very decent horse. His form before he got injured was very strong and progressive, and it was a really good comeback run. But as I say, he'll only run if the ground is good or slower.
"Shrimp Shady's been on the go a long time, but he's had a very productive season. He's won over £100,000 in prize money, I think, this year, and rarely runs a bad race. If he can hold his form for another two weeks, he could be very competitive. He's off a good mark.
"The same really applies to Berkshire Sundance. He goes on any ground. He's won a lot of prize money this year and competed consistently in all these top staying handicaps. And I'd hope he again could run really well. It didn't really work for him in the Doncaster Cup on his latest start. He had to make the running, which wasn't ideal, and was rather exposed as a result. I think a bigger field would suit him better, and he could run well at a big price.
"I haven't won the Cesarewitch under my own name, but we did win it a couple of times before I held the licence with Distant Prospect and Top Cees. It's a race I've always wanted to win in my own right, so it would be very nice.
"It's a unique test and I think you need a horse who can travel well, is probably well handicapped, and still got a bit of juice left at the end of a long season. And that is key. Both Shrimp Shady and Berkshire Sundance have had long seasons, whereas Tactician would be going there relatively fresh. So if he got his ground, he'd obviously be in there with a chance."
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