A review of the pick of the rest of the action from Newmarket on Thursday.
Weekend Roar silenced his rivals to move a step closer to fulfilling an outing in the Harry’s Half Million By Goffs at York in August after opening his account at the second time of asking at Newmarket.
After finishing third on his debut at Salisbury 11 days ago, the Hugo Palmer-trained son of Supremacy went two places better when building on that experience in the It’s Racing Staff Week EBF ‘Confined’ Novice Stakes.
Hitting the front in between the two and the one pole in the six furlong test, the Middleham Park Racing-owned 11/4 shot rallied well under Oisin Murphy before getting the better of newcomer Etienne by a head.
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Tom Palin, bloodstock and National Hunt manager to Middleham Park Racing, said: “It felt like a good maiden at Salisbury at the time. He was a little bit green in the first part of the race then the penny dropped and he came home nicely.
“You were hopeful, in the right sort of race, he would be able to give a good account of himself the second time.
“There was one of Eve's (Johnson Houghton) in there that looked the likely winner, and we were going to re-route to Chester with him, but when he didn’t come we switched tactics and came here.
“I was a little bit worried about the quicker ground, and Oisin did mention he would be better with it slightly softer as is he by Supremacy, and his progeny do appreciate that. The right three horses have pulled clear. I think that will be a strong enough maiden.”
And having seen the Middleham Park silks carried to glory in the six furlong prize on the Knavesmire last year, Palin hopes that Weekend Roar can follow in his hoofprints.
Palin added: “He is in the Harry’s Half Million, and that is very much where we will be targeting. It is just a case of where we go next to get there, which could potentially be a novice under a penalty, or maybe something else, but I think we need to run once more before we go to the Harry’s Half Million.
“We won it last year so it would be nice to scoop it again.”
William Haggas continued his fine run of form after Vanilla Skies (7/1) defied her inexperience to make a winning debut in the Hallgarten Fillies’ Novice Stakes.
Fresh from saddling four winners at Royal Ascot, the Classic winning handler was at it again with the daughter of Pinatubo in the seven furlong prize.
Despite being the only newcomer in the field, the Lael Stables-owned filly put up a taking display when picking up well late on before obliging by half a length.
Cieren Fallon, winning rider, said: “I’m not sure how strong the race was, but it was a good starting point for her.
“She had to do it the hard way as she had to come from behind, but she picked up well and stayed on strongly up the hill.
“She will get a mile for sure, but seven furlongs is perfect for her now. She will be a better horse in a better grade."
There was further success on the card for the Fallon and Haggas combination after Darzah (3/1) added a second win to her name when prevailing by three quarters of a length in the concluding Hallgarten Fillies’ Handicap.
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsThe form of trainer Michael Wigham continued to be as scorching as the heat hitting the July Course after Dark Tornado bounced back to winning ways with victory in the Hallgarten Partner Of The Jockey Club Handicap (replay above).
Having appeared to get caught short of room late on in a mile handicap at the track six days ago, the gelded son of Dark Angel encountered no such traffic problems on his return to seven furlongs.
Always to the fore, the 11/1 chance pressed on inside the final two furlongs before defeating Aalto by a length and a quarter to give Wigham his fourth successive winner.
Wigham said: “That is four on the bounce now, so we are hot of the hot charts! All these races are run differently, and everything was run to suit him today, so we got a different result from last week.
“He got interfered with a little bit last week, and things didn’t quite go right for him, but today he got the run of the race, and he was the best horse in the race.”
Following the race Dark Tornado was cut from 50/1 into 20/1 with Paddy Power for the bet365 Bunbury Cup over course and distance next month, which Wigham admitted will be next on the agenda.
He added: “Off the back of that run he has earned his ticket for the Bunbury Cup so he will come back for that now.
“There were one or two in the race that were heading in the direction of the Bunbury Cup, but you couldn’t fault his run there.”
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