Flat Stable Tour 2021: John Quinn including Liberty Beach, Keep Busy, El Astronaute and Safe Voyage
Malton handler John Quinn provides a guide to his 2021 team including the evergreen El Astronaute and flying fillies Liberty Beach and Keep Busy.
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AUTUMN AURORA
She’s running at Hamilton on Wednesday afternoon and she’ll win races this year I’m sure. She probably wouldn’t want the ground too soft but she showed a bit of promise last year.
CAPTAIN JAMESON
He’s had a wind operation before this season and is just finding his form. He won’t be long in winning, he’s been fourth, second and third the other day at Hamilton. He’s got options on Friday and Saturday and will have a chance wherever he goes.
DENY KNOWLEDGE
She won at Redcar in a novice race and didn’t handle Brighton the other day really but will win more races. She wants decent ground.
EL ASTRONAUTE
People love El Astronaute, people just love watching him race I think. It just really catches the imagination, the way he breaks from the stalls and the way he races. Ainsdale was third to him at Chester and that horse was then second to our filly Liberty Beach on Saturday in the Temple Stakes. Put it this way, I’ll probably put the three of them (Keep Busy as well) in the Abbaye, and he won’t be in there just to lead them! He’s entered at Haydock on Saturday and you could run him anywhere, he’s in the Dash at Epsom too and we’ll have to see how he does at the weekend. He’s an eight-year-old now and he’s been everywhere - he’s won in France, Ireland a couple of times, and he’s won 14 races in total. He’s given us some days that you couldn’t buy if you’d won the lottery. Just a lovely animal.
FIRST IMPRESSION
We’re very happy with him, he was third at Chester and then he just got beaten at Hamilton. We didn’t know if he got the mile and a half and rode him a bit reservedly, but he stays and he’s a grand horse.
FRANKENSTELLA
She’s come out of the win at Haydock very well and she’s in again at Carlisle on Friday. We’re thinking of running her, which might then get her in at Royal Ascot. The Ascot Stakes might suit her, all she does it stay. She’s been a slow burner but came to herself last year. She came back at Newcastle and then was a bit unlucky when fourth at York. It takes her all day to get going and the gap closed. But she came out of the race well and Saturday went well. She’s in good nick and a big, strong animal who takes her racing well. It’d be nice to get to train more of Frankel’s progeny, but that’s the way it is. She’s our first and she’s going the right way.
HAVEN LADY
She’s a Belardo filly who didn’t win last year from three starts but will hopefully win this year. She’s a nice, staying filly and when she was in her best form the ground was very soft when we went to Catterick. I don’t think she really liked it. She’s in at Pontefract over 10 furlongs on Friday night.
HIGHFIELD PRINCESS
She had a great year last year, winning four times, and ran a cracker at York. The fifth from that race has won since and I think our filly will do well again this year. We went to France for a Listed race as she has a very good pedigree, but it was seven and a half furlongs and she didn’t quite get the trip. She was third 100 yards from and then didn’t stay. I wouldn’t be surprised if she got some black type. We’ve felt she’s possibly got a little bit quicker but we won’t rule out the possibility of dropping back to six furlongs with her at some point. She’s got a real stamp of Danehill (dam’s sire) and she’s a half-sister to Cardsharp who kept on improving and won lots of races at seven furlongs.
KEEP BUSY
She’s come out of the Temple Stakes well, it just didn’t quite happen for her and she might have needed it a bit more (than Liberty Beach). She’s quite diminutive and was just nudged out of things at Haydock. She ran 13 times as a two-year-old and the best run was probably her last. Last season all she did was improve and improve, she just kept going. She’s a lovely filly and very good. Our job is to try and win a Group One with her and Liberty Beach. Ryan Moore will ride her in England wen available as she’s owned by Mrs Tabor.
LIBBY AMI
She won at Newcastle last year and seems to like a sound surface so we didn’t see the best of her at Beverley last month.
LIBERTY BEACH
She’s done very little wrong all the way through. The way she was working before Saturday we were hopeful she was still very well. She was so good at two, running three times in just 22 days initially and if she’d been drawn a bit better in the Queen Mary I think she might have won. Then she won at Sandown and Goodwood before finishing second in the Lowther when the winner just got away from her. She was great last year, finishing third in the King’s Stand and ran the race of her life in the Abbaye when a close third. There’s not much at all between Liberty Beach and Keep Busy, they’re too very good fillies.
LORD RIDDIFORD
He’s a very good horse and the plan is to try and win the Dash at Epsom. He’s rated 103 on the all-weather and 90 on the turf. He won a Listed race at Lingfield and ran him on Finals day but he’s not a six-furlong horse, he’s a five-furlong horse. We’ve won the Dash before and hopefully he’ll get into the race. He’s never run at Epsom before but he’s won at Goodwood in the past so fingers crossed he likes the track.
MELODY KING
He likes a bit of nice ground, he won on good ground, and I’m sure he’ll win his races as he’s come down the weights a little bit now.
POET’S MAGIC
She’s a grand mare and was just caught on the line at Wolverhampton. She’s a five-year-old and she’ll hopefully win more races this season.
SAFE VOYAGE
I was happy with him going into the Lockinge but he obviously wasn’t on his A-game. In the end the fractions they set at Newbury were far too fast and anything that was in the van finished out of it, with Frankie coming through from the back on Palace Pier. He'll have options back at seven furlongs and he certainly seems well in himself. The trip to the Breeders' Cup back-fired slightly as it came up very fast ground, when everyone we asked suggested there'd be plenty of rain around. He could run under a penalty in a Group Three this weekend at Haydock.
TITAN ROCK
He ran well on his debut at Haydock, won his maiden at Goodwood and then ran in the Acomb where he was a respectable fifth. Then he ran in a sales race which was too short for him (6 1/2f). He was fourth at Goodwood on Saturday on his return and did well as he was pushed wide. I’m convinced he wants better ground and he’s a fine horse. I hope there's a big one, or two, in him this year as he’s a big three-year-old who will go on improving. There are lots of options for a horse like him but seven furlongs to a mile will be ideal for now.
VIRGINIA PLANE
She’s a half-sister to Liberty Beach and she’s quite a nice filly. She won at Lingfield in May and was third at Goodwood the other day, making the running. Tom Marquand said he nearly got blown off her it was so windy and it didn’t suit. She shouldn’t be long in winning on turf.
TWO-YEAR-OLDS
We’ve about 25 two-year-olds and all sorts in terms of pedigrees, but we’ve some nice staying types which are nice.
AUTUMN ANGEL
I like this filly, she’s by Dark Angel and has a very good pedigree. We should be seeing her on the racecourse in around four to six weeks.
LADY ROWAH
She’s Lord Riddiford’s half-sister by El Kabeir and she’s possibly not as precocious as he was but she’ll be a nice filly for the summer. She’s yet to really come to herself but fast ground will suit her I think.
LERMONTOV
He’s a colt by No Nay Never out of Caribbean Princess. He looks a nice horse, I like him. He’ll probably like top of the ground.
SELFISH BRIAN
He’s a grand horse by Shalaa. He’ll be a six or even seven-furlong horse this year a little later into the year.
TIPPERARY SUNSET
He’s a nice colt and he won first time out at Hamilton on May 14. When he got to the line he wasn’t stopping which is always a good sign. He’s entered in the Two Year Old Trophy Conditions race at Beverley on Saturday. He’s got a good pedigree and he could progress with a bit of luck. He’s all speed, he’s a nice attractive horse and five furlongs for the time being. There’s a champion two-year-old filly on the dam’s side of his pedigree and when that’s the case you just never know. His sire Ardad has certainly made a fantastic start and they’ve haven’t all cost a huge amount either.
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