Wednesday Talking Points: Aidan O'Brien colt steps up in class at Cork
Richard Mann takes a look at Wednesday's racing as Aidan O'Brien saddles an exciting colt in the feature race at Cork.
North Face making up for lost time
North Face wouldn't be a headline act at Ballydoyle having been unraced at two and again for the guts of this season until finally making his racecourse debut at Navan last month.
He was worth the wait. Aidan O'Brien's son of Declaration Of War was well backed beforehand and duly justified that support, moving powerfully into the contest with a couple of furlongs to run before staying on strongly in the closing stages to win with something to spare.
Hailing from the same family lines as Henrythenavigator and brother to former Dewhurst winner Beethoven, North Face is certainly bred to be smart and the manner of his debut performance suggests he might be able to live up to that pedigree.
The second from Navan, Dubai Rainbow, has already won since to give the form a timely boost and it could be significant that trainer Aidan O'Brien has immediately pointed his colt at Listed company.
The Navigation Stakes at Cork should provide a stern examination of his credentials, though, with fellow debut winner Moteo another with any amount of untapped potential while Zorion has already won at this level earlier in the year and provides a sold benchmark.
Nevertheless, North Face heads to Cork as oppose to taking up a potential engagement in the Group Two Challenge Stakes at Newmarket on Friday and he could easily prove a cut above the rest.
Daly and Johnson combination always worth noting
Richard Johnson seems to be riding winners everywhere and for everyone nowadays.
The champion jockey is just getting better with age; strength, judgement and an unrivalled hunger for winners setting him apart from his peers.
His longstanding association with Philip Hobbs remains as strong as ever - providing him with a regular source of winners - while the likes of Warren Greatrex, Tim Vaughan and now Olly Murphy continue to snap up his services whenever possible.
Gordon Elliott invariably turns to Johnson when making his regular forays to these shores while Henry Daly is always quick to turn to his old ally at every opportunity.
The association between Johnson and Daly is one that might go under the radar but the pair have combined for 238 winners since first joining forces back in 1993 and they have now won prize money in excess of two millions pounds.
Daly might not currently boast the ammunition his fine training talents deserve, but he is a shrewd operator and was quick to book Johnson for recent Bangor scorer Pique Rock.
Johnson gets the leg up on Chilli Filli (2.40) and Ruby Tiger (5.15) as Daly saddles a couple of runners at his local track, Ludlow, on Wednesday and both warrant serious consideration.
Meydan on the mind
Historically, the Godolphin operation has always enjoyed plenty of success in the autumn as Saeed bin Suroor and Charlie Appleby begin to turn their attentions to Meydan, and decide on the make-up of their respective Carnival squads.
As alluded to in yesterday's piece, bin Suroor has seen a welcome upturn in fortunes in recent weeks while Appleby's excellent season shows no sign of relenting.
The latter saddles Auxerre in the closing race at Kempton on Wednesday night, the 32Red.com Handicap, and he could be just the type to make his mark in Meydan handicaps when the Carnival begins early next year.
A fine second on his Newmarket introduction back in June, the gelded son of Iffraaj has since won at Haydock and Chelmsford in the manner of a smart performer and another victory at Kempton could see him on a good mark from which to contest some valuable prizes in the desert.
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