QIPCO 1000 Guineas: Sacred Angel work delights connections

Last year’s Cheveley Park Stakes third continued her preparation for the opening fillies’ Classic of the campaign at the Rowley Mile on May 5th with a seven furlong spin at the track under Jason Hart. Working alongside two stable companions, Sacred Angel, who secured Group Three glory in the Princess Margaret Stakes at Ascot last year, galloped out strongly under Jason Hart much to the delight of the Middleham trainer.

And while Sacred Angel still has her stamina to prove having yet to race beyond six furlongs Johnston believes that from what he has seen at home, and in her latest piece of work, she will have no problem handling the step up in trip.

Johnston said: “Everything has been very smooth up until this point. The question mark over the winter was is she going to be a Guineas filly, or were we going to come into the spring thinking she is definitely not going to stay and start thinking about campaigning her like a Commonwealth Cup filly. From what we have seen at home before today, and that has been reaffirmed today, is that we are a lot more confident she will stay the mile than when we were stood over in the winner’s enclosure here in September. As Jason (Hart) has just said it is almost like riding two different fillies as she has matured that much from two to three.

“If anything she is almost behind the bridle now, she is like that at home. She is very relaxed, and from that point of view she will give herself every chance of staying the mile.

“We were not here to find out how good she is, as we know how good she is, we were here to give her a day away from home and replicate all the things she will be doing if she came back here in just under three weeks time and that has all gone perfectly. She is in all three Guineas, but at the moment we are preparing her with Newmarket in mind."

While Sacred Angel had the option of taking in a 1000 Guineas trial Johnston insists it was always the plan to take in a gallop ahead of her Classic tilt.

He added: “When you have won a Group Three at two, and been third and fourth in two Group Ones, there is not a lot to achieve in a Nell Gwyn, or a Fred Darling. "All you can do is burst your bubble. In that sense we were happy to go to a Classic first time out. There wasn’t a lot more she could do last year. Her fourth in the Prix Morny was a great run, and her last furlong there was her best furlong, and she hit the line strong there.

"She probably just over raced a little bit here in the Cheveley Park when Ryan (Moore) set her alight alongside James (Doyle) which cost her second. She doesn’t have the Group One winning form of a Fallen Angel, but she is not far behind them.”

Kitteridge steps out for Palmer

Before Sacred Angel took to the track Hugo Palmer put Betfred Oaks entry, and last time out Newcastle scorer, Kitteridge through her paces in a gallop alongside stablemate He’s A Gentleman.

Covering just over a mile Kitteridge moved smartly past her work companion under Group One winning rider Hart around a furlong from home on what was her first appearance on grass to set up a potential return to the track in the Listed Pretty Polly Stakes on May 5th.

Palmer said: “I couldn’t have been happier. She is a beautiful filly as you saw. She has got a lovely pedigree. She was too backwards to run last year so she didn’t start until the winter. We haven’t got a grass gallop at Manor House, so that is the first time she has galloped on turf, which was the first purpose of coming here. It has also given us an opportunity to have a feel of the track, and feel of the dip, which she went through as if it wasn’t there.

"The Pretty Polly on Guineas weekend could be an option, but in the same way all the Oaks trials could be an option, and we will try and pick one. If you have got a filly that you rate that is a maiden winner the next important thing is to appear the way they appear on a catalogue page. We did exactly the same with Architecture, who was second in the Oaks, and Ocean Road, who was sixth in the Oaks.”

Over the years Palmer has been blessed with training a number of exceptional fillies including dual Group One winner Covert Love. And while stopping short of making any comparisons he believes Kitteridge has the potential to be another smart filly.

He added: “It really is impossible to say how good she is compared to the other good fillies I’ve had, but she is right there with them (at this stage of her career).
Your mind gets tainted by what the other fillies have done, but she is a good deal nicer than what Covert Love was at this stage of her three year old season. We have had plenty where this filly is now that haven’t gone on to be dual Group One winners, and there are more in the latter category than the former. The nice thing is we are where we want to be and as they say we can let the ball hit the bat now and we don’t have to chase it all.”

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