Following the abandonment of Ascot, Matt Brocklebank has one selection running today and it's proving popular at Newmarket.
Peaceful is fancied to reverse Matron Stakes form with Champers Elysees in Saturday’s Group One feature - the Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket.
The race brings together a web of fascinating form lines, including the supplemented French raider Half Light, but it’s difficult to escape the obvious claims of the high-class, Irish three-year-olds who fought out the Matron finish at Leopardstown in the middle of September.
Johnny Murtagh’s Champers Elysees was best on the day but Peaceful – the Irish 1000 Guineas winner in June – looked just a shade rusty on her first outing since a running-on, neck third in the Prix de Diane, and appears all set for a stellar end-of-year campaign.
The daughter of Galileo would possibly prefer a sound surface to bounce off but she handles cut in the ground and stays a bit further, too, which is never a bad thing at Newmarket.
She was 5/1 at the start of the week when Sunday’s Prix de l’Opera remained an option but has since been well found in the market and has now dipped beneath what looked a very backable price.
With a huge sales race for two-year-olds and three fillies’ handicaps making up the bulk of the rest of the card, it’s tempting to move straight on to Ascot where the betting opportunities come thick and fast, but I can’t resist Andrew Balding’s BE MORE at 9/1 (General) in the 2.10.
Her length defeat of Lady Bowthorpe on the Rowley Mile last October isn’t too far off the best pieces of form on offer in this race and she performed to a similar level when back to winning ways over 10 furlongs at Sandown this July.
She’s not been quite on it since but wasn’t placed to best advantage when attempting to come from well of the pace at Chester last month and she’s definitely better than that effort suggests. A return to easy ground will help – she’s 3-3 on soft – and being eased 1lb leaves her just 3lb higher than for that summer score.
Oti Ma Boati could still have stacks in hand in fairness, but Be More should be shorter than Wondrous Words and Moonlight In Paris, and should be backed accordingly in the British EBF Premier Fillies’ Handicap.
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