Fran Berry column: Golden Birthday at Newmarket
Thursday at Sandown was a great night for me personally with a double on the card thanks to the victories of Danceteria and Kurious.
I'll obviously leave it to connections of Kurious when it comes to future plans but the owners had a winner at Royal Ascot with Heartache in the Queen Mary last year and she's a lovely prospect.
I'd ridden her in a bit of work at Henry Candy’s and she’s done very well, she’s really professional already but can only improve for that outing.
Danceteria came from the back to win the big handicap, though it wasn’t by design to leave it so late. He'd been gelded and was far more switched off than we expected and was basically asleep at the start. He came out dead last but I knew two and a half furlongs out that there was plenty of horse under me, and that he'd finish well.
Other recent winners include Sweet Charity at Leicester and Past Master at Goodwood. The latter is a lightly-raced horse still and should continue to progress as the season goes on.
Before getting onto this weekend's rides I think it’s worth reflecting briefly on the Investec Derby. It was obviously a fantastic result for Sheikh Mohammed, who puts so much into the game, and Masar was a very worthy winner on the day.
There were no real hard luck stories which was pleasing and the second Dee Ex Bee looks a proper St Leger contender. Roaring Lion ran a massive race too – he just didn’t see it out – and it’ll be fascinating to see he and Masar in a potential rematch at 10 furlongs if that were to happen.
As for Saxon Warrior in fourth – I’m not sure there were many excuses. It’ll be very interesting to see where he ends up going next as I’d be a little surprised if it was the Irish Derby.
He’s a Guineas winner and I just wonder if races like the Juddmonte International or Coral-Eclipse before that could be the races they have in mind.
What is a little unusual about the first three is that compared to other Derby winners they’d all had quite a bit of racing. Masar had a run in Dubai, won the Craven and ran in the Guineas, while Dee Ex Bee and Roaring Lion were both having their eighth career starts. That could be an interesting trend to monitor going forward.
Saturday is split between Newmarket and Lingfield and it’ll be brilliant to get back to the July Course, which is a great place to ride and there’s always a warm atmosphere. There’s nowhere better in my view and there’s always a good crowd.
I ride Burguillos in the Margaret Giffen Memorial Handicap and it’s his first run of the season and first for Stuart Williams, who has opted to add a tongue-tie.
He’s known for his exploits over much longer distances and was a neck second to Big Country in a valuable York handicap last summer, but this sprint trip might just be on the short side.
Golden Birthday might be a more realistic chance of a winner in the John Sunley Memorial Handicap.
In truth he was a bit disappointing when last seen, especially compared to the good form he showed in the autumn, and he just wasn’t quite giving me the same feel.
But he's had a 50-day break now, Harry Fry says he’s in good nick and dropping back to a mile and three quarters looks a good move based on his win at this trip at Doncaster in October. He's on a mini-retrieval mission but if he's back to form then he could be ready to go very close.
I don't imagine the wide draw could be an excuse over this far and he handles all types of ground.
I honestly don’t know a great deal about Oakley Mimosa going into the Porsche Centre Cambridge “Confined” Fillies’ Novice Stakes. She’s a nice type on paper being out of a Diktat mare, although it’s fair to say Stuart’s horses can improve for a run.
Hedonism is my first run on the evening Lingfield card and I hope she could be quite interesting in the Premier Benefits “Confined” Novice Stakes.
She ran quite well on her debut for Henry Candy when third at Brighton and she was still pretty inexperienced there. We had to trot her to the start and she ran quite green but it did feel like she was getting the hang of things. Moving up to six furlongs is a pus and while she’s far from the finished article, I wouldn’t be surprised to see her run well.
Star Attraction might not be quite that just yet but she’s a big, raw filly who might be able to cope with an opening mark of 58 in the Premier Wealth Planning Handicap. David Menuisier’s horses are in good form but if pressed I'd probably suggest she's one to look at rather than getting involved with.
Onto Goodwood on Sunday and King Of Nepal is going for a hat-trick of wins in the CSS Seismic Sweepstake Handicap. He’s been progressive over the winter and beat Ripp Orf when last seen, which is good form.
We’ve probably not seen the best of this horse just yet although he’s not raced since January and is in against some race-fit rivals. Stall eight probably isn’t one we’d have picked, either.
Hernandes still hasn’t shown a mass amount since joining Ian Williams from Ed Walker and is still a maiden heading into the NSPCC Baby Steps Handicap.
He’ll need to step up on the bare form he’s shown but has been eased a little in the weights since a fairly disappointing run at Windsor.
Faithful Mount runs in the Maywal Handicap and is into the veteran stage now at the age of nine. His form hasn’t quite been up to his usual standards lately and has it to prove at present.
Lucky Beggar is one I’m looking forward to riding for trainer David Griffiths in the Hospital Innovations LTD Support NSPCC Handicap.
This represents a drop in class after he contested the “Dash” at Epsom last week and I though he ran well. He’s running off a slightly lower mark here and David does extremely well with these experienced sprinters. He should be thereabouts with any luck.
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