Mike Cattermole preview and tips on Falmouth Stakes day at Newmarket
Mike Cattermole looks ahead to the second day of the July Festival and expects Royal Ascot form to work out well.
There is no question that the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes on day two of the Newmarket July Festival is as weak a Group One as you will find, but it presents an ideal opportunity for One Master to double her tally at the highest level.
William Haggas’s mare caused a huge shock when getting up to deny Inns Of Court in last October’s Prix de la Foret at Paris Longchamp and subsequent starts suggest that there was no fluke about that win and that she very much belongs in this class.
One Master has proved that with creditable runs since in both the Breeders’ Cup Mile (length fifth to Expert Eye) and Hong Kong Mile (eighth to Beauty Generation) and went to Ireland on her reappearance with the run expected to bring her on.
Indeed, it was her stablemate Beshaayir who won the Group Two Lanwades Stud Stakes that day, by a length and a half from I Can Fly with One Master (giving them both 3lb) just over a half a length further back in fourth.
Haggas was delighted with both of his fillies but made it known that he believes One Master to be much the superior of the pair.
Sure enough, One Master showed the benefit of that with an outstanding run against the males in the Queen Anne Stakes, finishing a close third to Lord Glitters and Beat The Bank, having looked the likely winner.
A reproduction of that sort of form should be good enough to turn the tables on Beshaayir and I Can Fly, who she previously defeated at Tipperary last August.
Qabala looks the danger after an excellent third to Hermosa in the 1,000 Guineas. She was suffering from an infection when disappointing in the Irish version (scoped badly) but has to be respected, especially with the Roger Varian team firing on all cylinders. Qabala had beaten her stablemate Mot Juste in the Nell Gwynn Stakes in April.
Veracious is a consistent filly but seems held at this level and was a length behind I Can Fly in the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot last time.
Two Royal Ascot-winning fillies clash in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes with the Varian-trained Albany winner Daahyeh expected to get the better of Queen Mary heroine Raffle Prize once again, having beaten her nicely here at Newmarket on debut back in May.
It is a shame that Raffle Prize has to carry a 3lb penalty here and Final Song, just over a length third to her in the Queen Mary, is entitled to close the gap. The Godolphin filly was allowed to coast home at Ascot under a curious ride that day and is respected.
However, Daahyeh looks outstanding and her introduction to a faster surface could see further improvement.
Raffle Prize’s trainer Mark Johnston has won the opening Bet365 Handicap five times in the past six years and sends out three to maintain the sequence, Dark Vision, Oasis Prince and The Trader.
Dark Vision has not turned out to be the horse that the Middleham trainer had hoped but he is still pretty smart and is certainly worth a try at this trip. He was a respectable eighth in the Britannia Handicap at Royal Ascot, a place behind Migration who is not certain to appreciate the longer distance.
Behind them both that day was Tulfarris who never got into the race after being switched to race in the stands’ side group at the start. But he kept on steadily to take 11th and there is every chance that the extra two furlongs will suit.
Interestingly, his price has been eroding steadily over the past 24 hours.
Outbox can land the Bet365 Trophy after an excellent head second to the smart French stayer Funny Kid at Chantilly last time. Lightly raced, there is plenty more to come from this promising sort.
Newmarket Friday selections:
1.50 TULFARRIS (EW), 2.25 DAAHYEH, 3.00 OUTBOX, 3.35 ONE MASTER
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