Matt Brocklebank looks back on some of the lesser-covered weekend stories, from a couple of promising sprinters to some novice chasers already making waves.
Callan keeping up fine run of form
There were nine races at Chelmsford on Saturday night and Neil Callan claimed three of them at combined odds of 130/1. He had three seconds too, while a couple of those who failed to reach the frame were sent off favourite. Neil, it was ever thus.
There's no question Callan, 45, has been riding as well as ever since returning to the UK full-time in the post-Covid era, following a successful four-year stint in Hong Kong, and that has yielded some significant results this season including Northumberland Plate success on Calling The Wind, a couple of Listed winners (Captain Winters and Emaraaty Ana), and of course G1 glory aboard Triple Time in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot.
That was his seventh career top-class British victory and second in two years for Kevin Ryan and owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum after winning the 2022 Sun Chariot on Fonteyn - no wonder the mid-summer celebrations.
Callan has enjoyed big days in France, Germany, Italy, Hong Kong and also bagged the ‘King’s Cup’ in Bahrain last spring, but you can bet a Breeders’ Cup winner will be on the bucket list and the jockey finally looks to have found the key Emaraaty Ana based on his Ascot win earlier in the month.
This horse was fourth in the BC Turf Sprint at Del Mar in 2021 and second at Keeneland last year, and he’s seemingly on track to try and go one better in the Santa Anita sunshine in three weeks’ time. It’s a tough playground, but the man tasked with doing the steering could hardly be riding with more confidence.
Promising pair for next year
Two to consider for some decent prizes in 2024 and no, I’m not referring to City Of Troy and Ylang Ylang.
See The Fire was actually the horse I took from the superb juvenile action at Newmarket over the weekend, but earlier on the Friday card I think we saw another promising individual in Roger Teal’s Rosario.
The combination of William Buick and stall one was always going to give the well-backed winner Inquisitively a distinct tactical advantage, and we should definitely be marking up the efforts of the second, who had to come from stall 14 and was well off the early pace set by the eventual victor.
Rosario made a striking forward move towards the centre of the track with a furlong to travel and he’d have finished even closer to Inquisitively had he not hung in behind him close home.
Teal has a nice group of two-year-olds this year, led by Dancing Gemini who is a potential threat to Diego Velazquez at Doncaster on Saturday week, but Rosario looks seriously fast and clearly still a bit rough around the edges, which bodes well for his future.
Another quality sprinter was somewhat surprisingly unearthed at York on Saturday in the shape of five-year-old Montassib, who fairly bolted up (in the context of this kind of race at least) in the Coral Sprint Trophy.
In fairness to team Haggas, Maureen was the first to admit they must have been stretching his stamina for the past three years, but the recent drop back to six furlongs has evidently unlocked the sort of potential at which this horse has always hinted.
There might not be another suitable race for Montassib before the year’s out but, either way, he’s going to be a force in Group company next season on this evidence.
Teasing time for Lacey
“He prides himself on only running horses with a realistic chance of winning,” states the website of Herefordshire-based Tom Lacey, a trainer who tends to have his horses plenty forward around this time of year.
He’s also a name that often gets bandied around ahead of Chepstow’s opening jumps meeting given his strike-rate at the track is in excess of 20% and, true to form, he ran four horses this time, three of which appeared to have realistic chances of winning.
All three of those runners hit the crossbar, finding just one too good, including Tea Clipper who followed home Stolen Silver in the Native River Handicap Chase. He’d won the Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle at this meeting in 2020 and landed the Listed novices’ chase on his debut over fences a couple of years ago, before going down a neck to Peregrine Run in the Native River 12 months ago.
Still only eight and unlikely to go up for this first run of the season, Tea Clipper is well treated and should remain competitive at distances of three mile or beyond, but the big Lacey eyecatcher this weekend was Blow Your Wad, who was tried at Grade 1 level as a novice last term and found only Pyramid Place too strong in Saturday’s Silver Trophy.
He’ll go up a touch from his weekend mark of 132 but is a neat jumper these days and a young hurdler to keep on side, without question.
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No worries with Matata
Also at Chepstow, Unexpected Party beat Knappers Hill by almost three lengths in this year’s running of the Listed novice chase. Subsequent Grade 1 winner Finian’s Oscar won it in 2017 and connections of the first and second might have some lofty ideas themselves.
Dan Skelton had stated pre-race that the Paddy Power Gold Cup was the plan for second-season novice Unexpected Party, though he may now have to reconsider the plans if the handicapper takes this at face value.
On a positive note, Skelton recently revealed that the long-absent My Drogo is looking good and will be trained for the King George, possibly via the Old Roan at Aintree and the Paddy Power at Cheltenham - providing all goes to plan.
As for Knappers Hill, this was a more than adequate start to life over fences and he just got a bit tired trying to keep up with the front-running winner in the straight. He already looks tailormade for something like the Rising Stars at Wincanton, a Grade 2 race his trainer has won 10 times.
At Ffos Las on Sunday, the slightly madcap Matata made an impressive start to his own career over fences, defying top weight and a mark of 134 with 10 lengths to spare. He was a bit unruly over hurdles last season and ran out at Wincanton in February, since when he’s been kept to left-handed tracks.
"He was very clever when I needed him to be, even though he's a free-going sort," said Daryl Jacob. "He took to fences really well and they've definitely helped him, they give him a bit more to think about and concentrate on. Over hurdles he was almost trying to run on the once breath.
"So I was very happy with him and it was lovely to see him come out and do what he did. Hopefully he can be an exciting chaser for us this season."
Next stop Warwick and the Highflyer Bloodstock Novices' Chase (2m) on November 22 by all accounts.
Bay has plenty more to offer
Rarely a dull weekend when it comes to Emmet Mullins, who couldn’t quite pull off the Cesarewitch-November Handicap double, 3/1 favourite Filey Bay not ideally placed en route to finishing fourth at Naas on Sunday after The Shunter struck gold at Newmarket the previous day.
Lord knows where The Shunter will be seen next but the Grand National was mentioned as a possible objective in the spring and you really wouldn't put it past his connections already having something as bold – or as contrasting to Saturday’s test – in mind.
As for Filey Bay, he smacks of a horse with a lot more to offer in the jumping game having been second in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury, third in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham and fifth in the Galway Hurdle through 2023.
He probably isn’t one for the worst of the winter ground in Ireland but could easily have another British jaunt in his sights before a probable return for the Festival in March. He could stay a good bit further than two miles over obstacles and wouldn’t be a shock entry in one of the Pertemps qualifiers along the way this season.
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