Saturday racing preview: What the trainers say

1.30 Newbury Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Stakes

Kieran Shoemark is relishing stepping into the boots of Frankie Dettori aboard Arrest, as the St Leger runner-up makes his return in the Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Stakes at Newbury. Arrest played a key role in Dettori’s UK swansong last season and was a beaten favourite for the Italian’s final Derby ride at Epsom, before just failing to send the 53-year-old off in a blaze of Classic glory when second to Continuous at Doncaster in September.

Shoemark was three places behind Arrest with Gregory on Town Moor, but having taken the reins aboard many of John and Thady Gosden’s star Clarehaven inmates since the relocation of Dettori to California, he will get the leg-up aboard Arrest for the first time on Saturday afternoon.

The 28-year-old hopes the soft-ground loving colt can build on his positive finish to last season and feels there is plenty of improvement to be seen during his four-year-old campaign.

“He’s obviously a big horse and hopefully he’s going to improve with age,” said Shoemark. “Hopefully the ground is not going to dry out too much at Newbury and we know he wants soft ground. His run in the Leger was brilliant – the ground went against me on Gregory, but he enjoyed it. He’s a proper mile-and-a-half horse, not short of speed by all means, and the softer the better for him. He’s a big, strapping horse and I honestly believe he will get better with age. He’s entitled to, so there will be plenty to look forward to for the year ahead.”

As well as winning the Chester Vase, Arrest’s other victory last term came at Newbury in the Geoffrey Freer Stakes and joint-trainer Thady Gosden is confident the race more commonly known as the John Porter is the ideal spot to kick-start the son of Frankel’s season.

“He’s a very talented horse, he ran great last year and was second in a Classic,” he said. “He’s developed very well over the winter and is a horse of great size and quality and he’s really filled into his frame and has been really pleasing leading into this race. He doesn’t mind getting his toe in at all and the track and trip should suit.”

Arrest will be in receipt of 3lb from William Haggas’ Hamish, who went through 2023 unbeaten, winning on four occasions, all at Group Three level. Hamish is one of two in the race for the Somerville Lodge handler alongside Mujtaba, but main hopes lie with the stable stalwart, who is owned by the trainer’s father, Brian, and got the better of Karl Burke’s Al Qareem on his final start of last year in the rearranged St Simon Stakes.

The Spigot Lodge-trained five-year-old is another slated to concede weight to Arrest and his trainer is excited to get Al Qareem back on track. Burke said: “I’m looking forward to seeing him run and he’s been ready to run for the last month. He’s working well, a mile and a half is his minimum trip, but on this ground I’m happy to start him off there. He’ll step up and be a good one-mile-six and two-mile horse later in the year. It’ll be a tough race, but I think he’ll run really well.

“We were lucky to keep him and he got travel sickness coming back (from Dubai). He’s hard work at home, Danielle Mooney rides him every day and he pulls her arms out every day, but he’s a lovely horse to have.”

2.05 Newbury Dubai Duty Free Stakes

John and Thady Gosden’s promising Regal Jubilee makes her seasonal reappearance on Saturday in what promises to be an informative running of the Dubai Duty Free Stakes at Newbury.

The three-year-old is by Frankel out of the mare Regal Realm, making her a half-sister to Sir Michael Stoute’s multiple Group-race winner Regal Reality.

The Cheveley Park Stud-owned bay made her debut at Newmarket in September, but ran no race when hampered in a one-mile fillies’ novice – a performance she put firmly behind her in October when running away with a Windsor novice to prevail by seven lengths.

She then stepped up to Listed level back at Newmarket in the Montrose Fillies’ Stakes, where she shone again in winning by two lengths on heavy ground.

Now returning to action at Newbury, Regal Jubilee will make another step up as she tries her hand on soft ground at Group Three level, in the seven-furlong feature registered as the Fred Darling.

“The stiffer seven at Newbury will suit her, the ground will certainly suit her from what we saw last autumn,” said Cheveley Park’s Chris Richardson.

“I think the trip is the minimum, really, she’s probably bred to be more of a mile-and-a-quarter filly. But it makes sense to go for a trial and see where we go after that.

“Her action favours the more rain-softened conditions we think, but we haven’t got much to go on.

“We’ll take advantage of the slightly easier ground now and see what happens.”

Marco Botti has a fascinating contender in Folgaria, a Due Diligence filly who makes her British debut after joining Botti’s yard from the Italian stable of his brother, Stefano.

She was unbeaten in five starts for Botti’s brother, working her way through Listed, Group Three and Group Two level when taking contests such as the Premio Primi Passi by six lengths and the Premio Dormello by two and a quarter.

Botti said: “She’s unbeaten in Italy, she won over six (furlongs), seven and a mile.

“She joined us about two and a half months ago, the owner decided to see what she can do abroad and it seems a good race to start her off in.

“The ground won’t be an issue, she’s been in good form and her work at home has been pleasing us.

“Of course it’s hard to transfer that form in Italy to England, but it seems the right race to start her off in and see where we are.

“She’s in the French Guineas and this will tell us a bit more about how to compare what she did in Italy to here.

“She won the Premio Dormello in good style, a Group Two, she’s facing a good field at Newbury though it has cut up a little bit.

“We’ve been happy and we will find out whether she’s up to this level.

“She was trained by my brother and we’ve been in touch, she’s been a straightforward filly since she joined us.”

William Haggas is represented by Relief Rally, a Kodiac filly who proved herself to be high quality when meeting with defeat just once in five runs during her juvenile season.

That defeat was a nose loss in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot, after which she went on to win the Super Sprint at Newbury and the Lowther Stakes at York.

She was subsequently sold by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, fetching 800,000 guineas at Tattersalls and staying in the Haggas yard for new owner Zhang Yuesheng.

Roger Varian runs Elmalka, with Richard Hughes set to saddle Oh So Sharp third Star Music and the field completed by Andrew Balding’s Topanga.

2.40 Newbury Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes

Ballymount Boy will cut his teeth as a three-year-old in the Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes at Newbury.

The Adrian Keatley-trained Camacho colt enjoyed a good juvenile season, taking a Hamilton maiden before showing a great deal of promise when finishing just a length behind Vandeek in Goodwood’s Group Two Richmond Stakes.

Vandeek subsequently went on to score twice at Group One level in the Prix Morny and the Middle Park, while Ballymount Boy was runner-up in the Acomb and then the winner of the Listed Prospect Stakes at Doncaster.

He will be seen for the first time this term at Newbury on Saturday, competing over seven furlongs at Group Three level before the rest of his season is mapped out.

“We’re looking forward to running him, the draw hasn’t been very kind to us (stall 11) but he won’t mind the ground,” said Keatley.

“Hopefully it’s a good starting off point and we’ll know where we’re at for the first half of the season after Saturday anyway.

“He has form on firm ground and he has form on soft ground, even from his worst run in France last year (eighth in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere), his form has worked out, with Brian Meehan’s horse (Jayarebe) who finished in front of us that day and won well on Thursday.

“He’s good, solid form from last year, he’s only a length off the highest-rated three-year-old in England in Vandeek, so he’s very much entitled to take his chance in this.”

Wathnan Racing acquired Ballymount Boy midway through last season and also own Mister Sketch, trained by Eve Johnson Houghton and also set to run in the Greenham.

The Territories colt ran three times last year and was beaten just a neck on debut before winning a Salisbury novice by nine and a half lengths in mid-August.

From there, he stepped up in grade to contest the Mill Reef and was beaten only half a length by Andrew Balding’s Array on heavy ground.

“He’s in great form, he’s done some nice work,” Johnson Houghton said.

“At this stage, this is a stepping stone to know which direction we’re going to go with him.

“He’ll love better ground but I think this ground will be OK, he is a lovely horse but he’s very much still a work in progress.

“He’s improving all the time, I thought he ran really well in the Mill Reef and I think we’ve got a very nice horse on our hands.”

David O’Meara runs Esquire, a Harry Angel gelding owned by Cheveley Park Stud.

A Hamilton winner on debut, he was then second to a very useful horse in the Balding-trained Purosangue in the Listed Rockingham Stakes at York in October.

His next run came in the Prospect Stakes at Doncaster, where he was sixth as Ballymount Boy came home in front.

“I think he’s a progressive horse, trip-wise he may be more suited to six furlongs, going forward,” said Chris Richardson of Cheveley Park.

“He prefers a bit of ease in the ground, so we’ve got our conditions.

“Like all these races at this time of year, it’s very much a fact-finding mission, whether he’s good enough or not, we will learn a huge amount about his potential, so we’ll roll the dice.”

Another notable contender is Ralph Beckett’s Zoum Zoum, a chestnut son of Zoustar who was unbeaten last year when winning two novices and the Listed Prix Herod at Saint-Cloud.

One of those novice runs was a two-and-a-half-length victory over Kikkuli at Newmarket, an interesting piece of form as that horse is a Kingman half-brother to Frankel and subsequently won a maiden at the same track earlier in the week.

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