Soliloquy bounds clear in the Nell Gwyn on a beautiful day at Newmarket
Soliloquy bounds clear in the Nell Gwyn on a beautiful day at Newmarket

Ben Linfoot reflects on a treble for Charlie Appleby as the Godolphin team hit the ground running


Ben Linfoot reflects on Nell Gwyn day at the Craven Meeting, with Godolphin strengthening their 1000 Guineas hand thanks to a couple of Dubawi fillies.

Soliloquy a potential Guineas play

“We’re all just trying to get a feel of where we are,” says Charlie Appleby, just after Soliloquy had scooted to a near two-length victory in the Lanwades Stud Nell Gwyn Stakes, the feature and recognised 1000 Guineas trial on day two of the Craven Meeting at Headquarters.

A wet spring has exaggerated the not knowingness of this time of year. The turf gallops remain an out-of-bounds area and we’ve gone from barely a hint of spring to glorious summer with the click of a finger, the mercury hitting 24 degrees Celcius on Wednesday afternoon.

That’s hot in relative terms and Appleby’s horses were sizzling on the Rowley Mile on the middle day of the Craven.

Half an hour after he won the Nell Gwyn, Appleby’s newcomer Strings Of Life won her maiden on debut in good style, while before racing, stablemate Wild Illusion, the Prix Marcel Boussac winner, pleased connections with a pre-Guineas workout under William Buick. Appleby then won the finale with Old Persian for good measure.

So if Appleby and Godolphin came to the races with one Guineas hope, they left with two. Key decisions will have to be made and the fact that Wild Illusion has the Classic entries whereas Soliloquy doesn’t is obviously irrelevant when it comes to this outfit.

“We’re in a privileged position,” says Appleby.

“One filly is in there in all the Guineas, this filly [Soliloquy] isn’t, but from what we’ve seen today we see no reason why we can’t put her in one or the other. We’ll supplement for one of them, either the English or the French.”

It seems the ground will be vital when it comes to the final destination of these two daughters of Dubawi. Faster ground and we could well see Soliloquy supplemented for the Newmarket Classic, slower ground and that looks less likely to happen.

“She’s out of a Lonhro mare and I see no reason why she won’t go on quicker ground,” Appleby says of the Nell Gwyn winner. “Wild Illusion broke her maiden on soft ground and won the Boussac on soft ground as well, she’s got a round old action.

“Her priority is the English Guineas, but if it’s quick ground then we’d have to sit back and have a chat nearer to the time. This filly potentially comes into the reckoning then.”

We’re all just trying to get a feel of where we are. And it feels like Appleby and Godolphin have a stronger hand for the 1000 Guineas than looked likely. There’s just that talented bunch of Coolmore fillies in the way now….


Sky Bet Odds, 1000 Guineas:


Veracious pleases in workout

Oh, and maybe Veracious. Sir Michael Stoute’s filly was another that had a racecourse gallop prior to the afternoon’s action and, though she took a while to get going, she pleased her trainer and confirmed big-race jockey, Frankie Dettori.

By Frankel out of Infallible, she’s a half-sister to the talented Mutakayyef, an excellent miler at his best which was on fast ground and at Ascot for William Haggas.

He ran on 2000 Guineas day at Newmarket, finishing second in the Listed Makfi Newmarket Stakes over 10 furlongs just over an hour after Night Of Thunder had denied Kingman in the big one.

Despite her lack of experience, though, it looks like Veracious won’t be missing her Classic assignment.

"Frankie was very happy with her,” Stoute said. “She's a nice filly, she won her maiden here well and I think she has developed very pleasingly and is coming to herself now.

"We'll run her [in the Guineas] and Frankie will ride her.

"I did have her in the Nell Gwyn, but I thought that would be more beneficial."

Forest Ranger a snip in Sefton

After a vet’s inspection (what a job), it was confirmed Richard Fahey’s Forest Ranger was indeed a gelding, not a colt, as advertised in the racecard ahead of his victory the bet365 Earl Of Sefton Stakes.

“I only noticed it this morning the girls forgot to tell them,” Fahey said. “I just saw he was down as a colt and, anyway, it was the backend of last season and we should’ve notified them.

“I’ve been done as well, you can put that one on record.”

Like his trainer, Forest Ranger was not lacking for bravery despite his lack of equipment as he battled to see off Deauville in a thrilling renewal of the Group Three.

As for future targets, Fahey was non-committal, but the top 10-furlong prizes might just be in reach, if he stays farther than today’s 1m1f trip.

“We’ll have a discussion and see how he is,” Fahey said. “He’ll bring us to the right places, I just don’t know where I need to go. I’m in no man’s land at the minute, in my mind.

“He could end up in something like that [the Eclipse]. It’s on my mind but the difficulty is I trained his sister [Home Cummins] and she didn’t stay a mile-and-a-quarter, while always looking like she would.

“He looks like he’ll stay. He didn’t stop there today, it’s a tricky one.”

Spirit Of Valor
Spirit Of Valor - one of Ben Linfoot's Value Bets on Thursday. Click here for full preview

Can Appleby shine again in the Craven?

As for Thursday and the bet365 Craven Stakes, it all looks to be about Roaring Lion.

But if there’s one man that can stop John Gosden’s colt from dominating the Guineas trial, it’s that man Charlie Appleby fresh from his treble today.

He has two darts in the race; the unbeaten Glorious Journey, a Dubawi colt that runs in the old maroon and white colours of Sheikh Mohammed now passed on to his daughter Sheikha Al Jalila and son Sheikh Zayed, and Masar in the traditional Godolphin blue.

“Glorious Journey’s done physically well from two to three and his work is satisfactory coming in,” Appleby said.

“He’s not a good work horse, I can’t say that or I would be telling a lie, he wasn’t a fantastic work horse as a two-year-old either, but he’s two from two so you can’t take that away from him.

“One thing I would say is that he’s physically done well from two to three, but we’re all just trying to get a feel of where we are. I won’t be bold enough to say he’ll beat Roaring Lion but I’m hopeful he’ll run a nice race.”

And as for Masar…

“Put a line through that run [on Dirt at Meydan], he’s back on to turf tomorrow. He is fit and ready to roll whereas the other horse, there will be improvement to come from him but Masar, he is ready to run.”

On his Group One form behind Happily and Mendelssohn, Masar does have a chance. He was keen in the Lagardere, unlucky in running in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and Appleby is happy to draw a line through his comeback on Dirt.

He might not be good enough to beat Roaring Lion, but, one thing's for sure, you definitely don’t have to worry about the stable form.

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