Things you may have missed from Doncaster, Leopardstown, the Curragh and Longchamp

Shadow emerges as top-class contender

What a season it’s been for trainer Katie Scott and three-year-old sprint star Naana’s Shadow, who put her hat in the ring for a shot at next month’s Prix de l’Abbaye with her latest success on Sunday.

There are shades of Highfield Princess with this Havana Grey filly, who began life at Scott’s small yard in the Scottish Borders with a BHA rating of 72 and is now into triple-figures with a G1 entry to her name.

After wins at Catterick, Epsom on Oaks day, York and the Qatar Goodwood Festival, Naana’s Shadow looked unlucky in third back on the Knavesmire at last month's Ebor Festival, form that had been franked by the fourth (Baker Blue), fifth (Old Is Gold) and seventh (Poatan) all winning subsequently.

On Sunday the rapid grey made all the running under local rider Tony Piccone in Longchamp’s Prix du Petit Couvert to give Scott a French winner with her first ever runner across the Channel.

“My phone’s been going mad!” Scott said on Monday morning. “It was fantastic, we had a plan and they don’t always pay off, but it’s brilliant. The whole year has been a dream really and she’s just kept on improving.

“Yesterday was our first every Pattern winner, we’ll enjoy that and now we can go back to France Arc weekend with the pressure off."

The Abbaye has thrown up some weird and wonderful results over the years, including Highfield Princess who took top spot at the age of six, and the draw can obviously make or break you, but with Haydock Sprint Cup winner Almeraq and Sunday’s Flying Five scorer Comanche Brave apparently bound for alternative targets, you wouldn’t bet against Naana’s Shadow being somewhere in the shake-up.

Time for Juddmonte to take a view

Item, Blue Bolt, Purview and Monogram. Not quite a fistful of aces but the Juddmonte hand looked stacked going into the Irish Champions Festival and you’d imagine there won’t be too many long faces having emerged with just the one big-race winner from the aforementioned quartet.

Monogram was pitched in deep after his remarkable debut success and ran well while coming up six lengths short behind the more experienced (and deeply impressive) Folson Blues, York hero Item was surely a little bit flat in the Irish Champion Stakes, with Blue Bolt the one to fly the flag with distinction in the Matron.

But what to make of Purview, a never-nearer, two and a half-length third behind Arabian Crown in the Group 3 Kilternan Stakes?

I’ve fallen for these horses many times in the past but can’t shake the idea that Purview has his very best days ahead of him and it will be fascinating to see where he goes next on the back of this inconclusive effort, Colin Keane setting the horse just a bit too much to do as the winner led, steadied and quickened, his finishing speed percentage of 106.4% suggesting those held up for a late run were done no favours.

Trainer Dermot Weld had spoken of lofty ambitions deep into the campaign for Purview and while the Champion Stakes and Arc de Triomphe entries now look slightly beyond reach, I’m left wondering if connections could still be tempted into Breeders’ Cup Turf bid at Keeneland. I really hope he's done enough to merit the trip to America.

Cup clues at Salisbury and the Curragh

It was of course Betfred St Leger weekend and Saffie Osborne’s broad grin in front of a packed Doncaster crowd will have done wonders for the sport. Highwayman going for the Melbourne Cup would be fantastic, but I had eyes on a couple of former Leger winners in Sunday’s Irish version too.

Having his first run since Royal Ascot when fourth in the Hardwicke, Jan Brueghel – who developed pneumonia last year and almost lost his life – was back up in trip at the Curragh and shaped well in third behind stablemates Scandinavia (last year's Doncaster victor) and Queenstown.

Jan Brueghel is almost certainly O’Brien’s next older horse to be sent down the Cup route and that project will likely begin at Ascot in next month’s Champions Long Distance Cup where Scandinavia may or may not lie in wait, the Gold Cup winner having had a long year already and unlikely to show if the ground is particularly testing.

If the going is soft then we could well see a return to the top table for Ralph Beckett’s Amiloc, who quietly got back to winning ways in the Persian Punch Conditions Stakes at Salisbury on Friday.

Rossa Ryan wasn’t going overboard in his post-race interview but was keen to stress how badly a “confidence-boosting” success was needed for the four-year-old, who famously finished a fraction ahead of Scandinavia in this summer’s Goodwood Cup – albeit riderless having unshipped Hector Crouch soon after leaving the stalls.

Quest on the right track

Musical Times (Friday's May Hill) and Desert Castle (Saturday's Champagne Stakes) were the headline-grabbing juveniles at Doncaster and the former, out of a Teofilo mare who won the 2021 Cheshire Oaks for Mark Johnston, looks a really exciting long-term prospect.

Appleby also won Saturday's mile maiden courtesy of Al Jabbar, who receives a free entry to the 2027 St Leger as a result, but it’s a race that should throw up plenty of winners (Scandinavia was only seventh in it a couple of years ago) and the one I want to be with next time is fourth home Royal Quest.

By Camelot and closely related to a couple of winners, Andrew Balding’s colt has a bit of Classic potential himself as his dam is out of a half-sister to Godolphin’s 2009 Leger winner Mastery, and this debut run was packed with promise.

Royal Quest clearly wasn’t expected to win first time up (11/1) but travelled well and looked the real deal two furlongs from home before his effort flattened out. He will be considerably better off for the outing and should be found an opening to register a two-year-old success before the year is out.

King could be up to the Challenge

A good, old-fashioned eyecatcher to round things off, River King looking a prime candidate for another decent handicap payday before the year’s out.

Held in pretty high regard by Richard Hannon and a clearcut winner from a mark of 87 at Newbury on June 1, he must have had a small setback after finishing fifth to Mezcala in the Buckingham Palace but was able to reverse that form in Saturday’s big mile handicap on Town Moor.

He wasn’t unduly punished late on by Sean Levey but stuck to the task nicely in fourth and looks capable of defying his mark in the mid-90s. A drop back to seven furlongs in next month’s BetMGM Challenge Cup wouldn’t hold any fears on Ascot’s stiff track, where the Balmoral on Champions Day could also come onto the agenda as a final port of call this year.

More from Sporting Life

• Free bets
• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.al

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.