Our columnist looks back on the Shergar Cup and ahead to the upcoming action from Newbury and York.
How do you reflect on this year's Shergar Cup, some aspects of which have come under fire in the aftermath of Saturday's event?
The Shergar Cup is never going to be everyone’s cup of tea and in this day and age don’t we get to hear about it?! It’s a fun day out though with a great vibe and Ascot put on a superb show. However, when you get racing professionals airing concerns about the standard of riding, then Ascot probably needs to quietly address that.
With so much racing taking place, I imagine it’s difficult to attract the very biggest names from around the globe, and of the visitors there were a couple that stood out as world class riders. It felt appropriate that Hugh Bowman won the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle award for example. However, it’s important that the trainers and owners who are prepared to run their horses on that day feel confident that their valuable animals are going to be in good hands.
It was wonderful to see Asia win the competition in their first year and you can’t underestimate the impact that will have on global reach. Racing, like many sports, is struggling to maintain the audience it once had and therefore steps need to be taken to widen its appeal. I didn’t see many unhappy faces walking around the racecourse and it seemed like racegoers were having a marvellous time.
Is there a horse from last weekend which should be added to readers' My Stable accounts?
From Ascot there were a few horses that didn’t get the chance to shine with some races run at a crawl but one that won and should go on to bigger things was the winner of the Shergar Cup Sprint. Prince Of India has gone from strength to strength this season and the fitting of a tongue tie seems to have helped him enormously.
Trainer Marco Botti has this horse entered in the Champion Sprint back at Ascot in October and if he feels he merited a Group 1 entry then there should be more nice prizes to be won with him. It’s expected that he’ll appreciate slower ground than he got at Ascot too, so expect to see him step up in grade in a division that is lacking a standout star this year.
Who do you see at the key players in Saturday's Hungerford Stakes?
I’ll be off to Newbury on Saturday for Sky Sports Racing, and just like a visit to Ascot, there is never a bad day at Newbury.
The Hungerford Stakes is a 7-furlong group 2 and that seems a good spot for More Thunder. He’s been on an upwards trajectory this season and the only race he hasn’t achieved a win in is the Wokingham when he was pipped by a head by Get It. This is a step up from his Bunbury Cup win last time out but he is ready for that now. I’m not sure a race of this nature will be run to suit his style though.
It's hard to know what the final field will look like with many of the entries having other options, but three-year-old Spy Chief gets weight from his older rivals and should suit the step back up to this trip. He has a fabulous pedigree and cost an eye watering 750,000 guineas as a yearling but he doesn’t look the most straightforward ride.
Charlie Appleby has both Notable Speech and Shadow Of Light entered but they could go elsewhere, and the ground may not be suitable for the latter.
Rage Of Bamby and King’s Gamble finished first and second in the Hackwood here last month, so have claims on that, with the latter more appealing to me over this trip. It’s also worth noting that King’s Gamble’s trainer Ralph Beckett has hit form recently.
The ground may be too quick for recent Lennox winner Witness Stand as he has largely been kept away from good to firm conditions.
Marco Botti’s filly Great Generation is speedy, and this is easier than her run at Royal Ascot behind Lazzat in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. She suits the trip well.
It’s shaping up to be a cracking contest as the feature on a seven race card.
Looking further ahead, what's the one horse you'd be sweet on antepost for the Sky Bet Ebor Festival at York?
The Sky Bet City Of York Stakes has been given Group 1 status for the first time, which is superb news for York and for the 7-furlong division. I always compare the distance to 800 metre track runners because it requires speed for a sustained period of time, hence it quite a specialist trip.
The trip is right up Kinross’s street, and he comes here having won it twice before. He was a non-runner last year due to the good to firm ground and that could be an issue once again. We are over a week out from the meeting but currently it’s being described as on the fast side of good with some thundery showers in the forecast. If those showers arrive that puts Kinross and Maranoa Charlie right in with a shout. Faster ground would put me off them both. At the age of eight Kinross may be vulnerable to younger legs too.
It’s exciting to see some top class horses amongst the entries and we’ll have to wait until nearer the time for the probable line-up, but if Rosallion rocks up then they will all be in trouble. It seems likely that he’ll go to France for the Prix Jacques le Marois this Sunday though. The ground as we speak at Deauville is described as Bon/Good and I’m sure he’d go to France if that doesn’t deteriorate.
In Rosallion’s absence then I’ll be shouting for Never So Brave. It’s been exciting to see his progression this season and he’s unlucky not to be unbeaten in three starts since joining Andrew Balding from Sir Michael Stoute. On stable debut he was just touched off at Chester after meeting a wall of horses at a crucial stage in the race which resulted in Jason Watson having to delay his run. The fact he got to within a nose of the winner from an unpromising position showed what was under the bonnet.
He subsequently won the Buckingham Palace (Handicap) over seven furlongs at Royal Ascot and then took the step up to Group 2 company in his stride to win the Summer Mile at the same venue. He’s thrived since a gelding operation over the winter and I’m looking forward to seeing him in action again. He’s 4/1 second favourite with the sponsors.
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