Charlie Johnston’s Dear My Friend looks to extend an excellent winter into the spring as he bids for the BetMGM All-Weather Championships Mile Handicap at Newcastle.
The four-year-old is unbeaten in four runs on the all-weather, winning the Listed Burradon Stakes on Good Friday last year before embarking on a top-level turf campaign.
He may not have made the grade in the Dante, the Derby or the Hampton Court, but since returning to a synthetic surface at the beginning of this year, he has been unstoppable.
After taking a mile handicap at Newcastle on New Year’s Day, the gelding then landed the Listed Tandridge Stakes at Lingfield in February and the AWC Mile Trial Handicap at the same track in March.
Those runs provide him with a standout CV ahead of the BetMGM All-Weather Championships Mile Handicap, where he will carry top weight under Joe Fanning for owners Middleham Park Racing.
“He has been a revelation since we gelded him and cleared up his wind. I think that big, long stride seems to be particularly well-suited to the all-weather and he has literally been imperious this season,” said Middleham Park’s Tim Palin.
“He has gone up a lot in the ratings and, as the saying goes, ‘weight stops trains’, and it could be that the pesky handicapper is his nemesis on Friday. At the moment, I would not swap him for anything.”
There is a French contender in Yann Barberot’s Fast Raaj, who has acquitted himself well this year when finishing a close second in the Prix Saonois at Cagnes-Sur-Mer and then winning the Prix Montjeu at Chantilly.
Both of those runs were on all-weather surfaces and inspired the decision to cross the Channel and try the horse over a straight mile.
Barberot said: “Fast Raaj has run well at Chantilly, Deauville and Cagnes-sur-Mer, so we decided to seize the opportunity to run, as he qualified for this race.
“He has never run over a straight mile, so that is a question mark, but he’s a good horse who adapts well to all-weather surfaces. He has the right profile to be competitive in the race.”
Clive Cox’s Kingdom Come was third to Dear My Friend and McLean House in the AWC Mile Trial Handicap and was then the winner of the Lincoln Trial Handicap at Wolverhampton when last seen earlier this month.
“He put in a very nice performance in the Lincoln Trial at Wolverhampton, coming from off the pace, and is very much at home on the all-weather surfaces,” the trainer said of the bay.
“It will be his first time at the track but, if he can translate his recent form, he should run a competitive race.”
McLean House also renews the rivalry from that Lingfield outing and will line up for trainer Andrew Balding in the contest.
He said: “He has been very consistent this winter over seven furlongs and a mile. I think Dear My Friend will be very tough to beat, but we’ll give it our best shot.”
King Power Racing have two entrants in Fantastic Fox and Greatgadian, both of whom are trained by Roger Varian and come into the race in good form, having fared well on the all-weather throughout the winter.
Alastair Donald, racing manager to the owners, said: “When Fantastic Fox wins, he looks very good. He slightly lost his way last year but a return to the all-weather and drop back to a mile has seen a rejuvenated horse.
“He has been impressive this season and we meet Dear My Friend on much better terms.
“It has been a bit frustrating that Greatgadian hasn’t won this winter because he has not run a bad race.
“Occasionally, he gets called a few bad names, but I think he is pretty genuine. He just has to have a really fast pace and hit the line at the right moment. He is definitely on a mark to win a good race.”
Julie Camacho’s Symbol Of Light was second to Dear My Friend at Lingfield in January and has been aimed at this contest for some time.
Steve Brown, Camacho’s husband and assistant, said: “This race has been his target all winter and we are looking forward to running him.
“He has had a decent campaign without winning, which is frustrating, but hopefully he will go well again.
“The weight pull with Dear My Friend is in our favour compared to New Year’s Day, but that horse has been winning cannily in my opinion and will keep finding.”
Light seeking to shine again at Sandown
Kitty’s Light is taking aim at his usual season finisher in the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown.
The gelding has been a star for trainer Christian Williams, winning big handicap events like the Eider Chase and the Scottish Grand National and going close in the Charlie Hall and the Coral Trophy.
He has particularly good record in the bet365 Gold Cup on the final day of the season, missing out only due to interference when second in 2021 and coming home third in 2022.
Last year he was completed the set of podium finishes when winning by two and a half lengths under usual jockey Jack Tudor.
The two are well acquainted and teamed up for Kitty’s Light’s Grand National bid at Aintree earlier in the month, where he ran a valiant race to finish fifth behind four Grade-One winning Irish chasers.
Williams was incredibly proud of his stable star and is now hoping the gelding can shine again in the Sandown contest he has found to be lucrative in the past.
“It was wonderful, we trained him to win the race and we thought he could, but you couldn’t be disappointed with what he did,” Williams said of the National performance.
“We were thrilled, the horse tried his best and we were very, very proud of horse and jockey.
“He’s come out of it very well, if the race was run today even then he’d be running, he’s in good form.
“He loves it at Sandown with the big fences, his jumping has come on now but even as a five-year-old he nearly won the race.
“He was third the year after that, it really seems to suit him.
“I think he likes going right-handed, he hangs a little bit right at home and he seems to really enjoy it there.
“We’re taking our chance anyway, he seems well and we’ll hope for the best.”
Olivier Peslier announces imminent retirement
Olivier Peslier will retire from riding at La Teste on Thursday.
The 51-year-old has enjoyed an exemplary career in the saddle, being crowned French champion on four occasions and claiming a string of big-race successes across the world.
Peslier counts four victories in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on his CV, as well as Derby success aboard High-Rise in 1998 and a 2000 Guineas triumph with Cockney Rebel in 2007.
He enjoyed a long association with star miler Goldikova, riding the mare to win 17 of her 27 career starts which included a famous Breeders’ Cup Mile hat-trick in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Peslier also chalked up two Japan Cup wins and victories the Hong Kong Cup, Mile and Vase plus big-races successes in the likes of Germany, Italy, Ireland and Dubai during a truly international career.
He was retained rider for owners Alain and Gerard Wertheimer between 2003 and 2014 with the aforementioned Goldikova and 2012 Arc winner Solemia two of the headline acts of their lengthy relationship.
Peslier will sign off after two rides at La Teste in the south-west of France, bowing out with over 3,700 wins to his name.
“My health is fine, but you need the horses and need the practice and if you don’t have so many horses, it is the time to decide to stop because it is very tricky to ride only a few horses,” Peslier told the PA news agency.
“After a very long career I have had plenty of success. I have had more than 3,700 winners and over 500 Group race wins. I have won with both Arabians and thoroughbreds and 165 Group Ones, so it is amazing when I look at my career.
“I have won everywhere in the world and had great success and great moments. I’ve met so many good people and I’m very happy to stop my career and watch what has happened before.
“I won all the good races in England – the Epsom Derby, the King George and at Royal Ascot. In Japan, I won 12 Group Ones and won the Japan Cup and all the big races over there and also the Breeders’ Cup and all the Derbies in Europe.
“So now is the time and I’m in good form and everything is fine. It’s sad to take the decision but this morning I rode six horses and tomorrow I will ride some horses in training and for sure I will keep riding some horses because everybody loves horses and also I ride for my passion.”
Peslier is unsure what the future holds, intending to spend the summer months enjoying time with family and friends before finalising plans for the next stage of life, while he highlighted the talents of both Goldikova and Prix du Jockey Club and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Peintre Celebre as notable memories from his decorated career.
“I will take a little break and see some friends and see what happens over the next few months,” continued Peslier.
“After a holiday, September will be a new life, and I think I need a little bit of time to see what will happen in the future. I’m going to spend some time with my kids and enjoy life, then it will be a new life.
“Normally when I go to say Hong Kong and England it is for work, now I can go and visit people I know and take the time to enjoy it.
“Goldikova won 14 Group Ones and Peintre Celebre won the French Derby and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and were both really, really good.”
Bellum Justum stakes Derby claim with Epsom victory
Bellum Justum halved in price for the Derby after Andrew Balding’s colt won the Betfred Blue Riband Trial at Epsom.
While he took four attempts to get off the mark as a juvenile, the form of his win over Kevin Ryan’s Inisherin now looks much stronger than it did at the time and he took another leap forward here.
Ridden by Oisin Murphy, he was content to take a lead off Ryan Moore on Aidan O’Brien’s Chief Little Rock and with those in behind struggling to get on terms, it soon developed into a battle.
Bellum Justum held a narrow advantage for much of the final furlong but while he was well on top of the Ballydoyle runner close home, Roger Varian’s Defiance began to stay on strongly.
Without looking like winning, he closed to within three-quarters of a length of the 9-1 winner, looking promising for the future on just his third outing.
Bellum Justum was cut to 25-1 from 50s for the Derby by both Coral and Paddy Power.
“He had a setback about a month ago and he missed 10 days, so he’s entitled to come on for that today,” Balding told Racing TV.
“His form looked pretty strong and he improved a lot with racing last year and he’s entitled to improve from two to three, so we were fairly sure he’d be there or thereabouts but we’re expecting him to come on for it.
“He’s in the Dante and if he was going to run again that would be the likely target, we’ll just see how the Guineas goes and the other trials and we might end up coming back here.
“He’s out of an Oasis Dream mare but he’s closely related to Fox Tal who stayed a mile and a half.
“He’s up there with our best three-year-olds but unfortunately the one we were really excited about, Anzac Day, has had a setback.”
Crystal Delight (5-2) made a winning debut for Harry Eustace when leading home stablemate Ziggy in the Lilley Plummer Risks City & Suburban Handicap.
Previously trained by the now-retired William Jarvis, he was sent straight to the front by Jim Crowley and controlled matters from the outset.
He kicked clear over two furlongs out and came home five and a half lengths ahead of Ziggy, who stayed on without ever looking a danger.
“William came as he’s good friends with dad (James Eustace) and we ended up with a couple off him, this one and Duke Of Verona and it’s going well so far,” said Eustace.
“I thought he’d run well as he’s been training well at home. It was a small field and he likes making the running, so I thought we’d be able to set our own fractions and that’s what Jim did, it worked out well.
“I had a mile-and-a-half handicap at York in mind so we’ll see how we go.”
Eustace had to settle for third with Duke Of Verona in the Weatherbys Global Stallions App Great Metropolitan Handicap as Champagne Piaff (5-2 favourite) ran out an easy winner for Gary and Ryan Moore.
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