Review of the action from Friday's meeting at Newmarket
A review of the rest of the action from Friday's Newmarket where the remarkable King's Advice booked his Sky Bet Ebor place.
Advice books trip to Sky Bet Ebor
King's Advice is turning into one of the horses of the season after running out an emphatic two-and-a-half length winner of the bet365 Trophy.
The Newmarket success took his tally for the season to a remarkable seven wins from eight starts, with his only defeat coming in the Betfair Exchance Northumberland Plate last time.
However, despite racing off a 27lb higher mark than at the beginning of the season, the Mark Johnston-trained son of Frankel cleared right away from a competitive field once the gap opened up.
"We were obviously a bit disappointed in the Northumberland Plate where things just didn't go well for him," said Johnston.
"Joe Fanning is still unbeaten on the horse, so he obviously has a great deal of confidence in him and he said he was worried about being boxed in today, but the horse showed more speed and turn of foot than he has done in some races in the past. This was his most impressive win. You can't ignore this £1 million Ebor – it is an obvious target for this horse."
The sponsors cut him to 16/1 from 25s for the York showpiece.
King's Advice 16/1 from 25s with the sponsors the @SkyBet Ebor after winning a seventh race of the season at Newmarket. He doesn't look finished yet.pic.twitter.com/96THBoPf6N
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) July 12, 2019
Andrew Balding and David Elsworth also eyeing the Sky Bet Ebor for their respective placed horses with both Caliburn (13/2), who was beaten two-and-a-half lengths, and Desert Skyline (33/1), who was a further three-quarters of a length down in third, heading to the Knavesmire .
Balding said: “That was a cracking run. I’m really pleased with him and Caliburn is going the right way. Silvestre [De Sousa] thought he was trapped a little bit wider than he wanted to be around the turn. However, the ground was fine and he obviously handles juice in the ground as well. If he can get into the Ebor – we will have to see what the handicapper does after this – that’s where he would head.
David Elsworth was similarly pleased with the topweight Desert Skyline, who showed he still retains plenty of ability with a staying-on effort under Gerald Mosse.
The Newmarket handler said: “We have been struggling with this horse since June 2017. I really was sweet on him to run a big race in the Ascot Gold Cup last year and he ran unbelievably wrong and didn’t come back right. He began to give us a bit of encouragement by the end of last season – I think I ran him over too short of a trip, because we were just looking for races for him.
“I thought he would run well in the Northumberland Plate at Newcastle last time and they didn’t go very fast, and they quickened a bit. The tougher it is, the better he goes. He won the Doncaster Cup as a three-year-old over two-and-a-quarter miles, and he does stay well.
“So we will run him in the Ebor, which is a handicap, and if he continues to progress, we will hope for the best – the trouble is, I bought half a dozen ducks at the market last week and they all drowned, so I’m out of luck – I can’t do anything right! But it was encouraging and if he keeps progressing, we’ll keep teaching ourselves that we might have a chance.”
Walkinthesand belies trip fears
Richard Hannon is hoping there is still more to come from Walkinginthesand who defied top weight to land the hugely competitive opening bet365 Handicap for three-year-olds.
Never far off the gallop, Ryan Moore's mount kept finding under pressure to see the ten furlong trip out strongly, something his trainer had doubts about during the race.
Hannon said: "I think it was a nice performance under top weight. I wasn't sure he would get the trip being ridden like that, although Saeed Suhail was very confident that he would. He's performed well all year, very rarely does he run a bad race and I think next year will be his year.
“He is proving that as time goes on. He doesn't have a lot or mileage on the clock and I would be very keen to look at next year more than this one now. Ryan said he's a gentleman and he's got a very good brain. He settled and stuck at it well – it was a good performance and it is refreshing for a horse like him to get his head back in front.
“He's come up against some pretty horses but he is a decent one in his own right who is finding his level. I don't think there is much difference between this and Listed level, and if we could win a Group Three with him next year I would be delighted.”
Walkinthesand defies top weight to take the bet365 Handicap pic.twitter.com/x4IYJuBhYA
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) July 12, 2019
Bright future predicted for Madhar
Al Madhar can expect to have some fancy entries appear next to his name after getting up by a neck on his debut in the Weatherbys British EBF Maiden Stakes.
Hannon said of the 8-1 winner: "He is a lovely colt and always has been. It didn't look like Jim (Crowley) gave him a hard time and he did it very naturally.
"Sheikh Hamdan came and saw him in the spring and he didn't want to see him until the thick end of the summer. He has been a nice horse since day one.
"We are very happy with where he is and it doesn't surprise me he won. We will make some fancy entries now."
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