Paddington bears fruit in Irish Guineas

By Sports Desk May 27, 2023

Paddington made a seamless switch to Classic company as he gave trainer Aidan O’Brien another victory in the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh.

Having begun his season in handicap company off a mark of 97, Paddington won the Tetrarch Stakes next time before being pitched into the Guineas.

Ryan Moore was keen to grab an early position on the 3-1 victor and settled just behind Oisin Murphy on Hi Royal, the surprise runner up in the Newmarket Guineas.

For a brief spell it appeared as if Murphy was keeping a bit up his sleeve as Moore got down into the drive position, but with half a furlong left to run, Paddington began to gain the upper hand.

He leaned in briefly on Hi Royal, but he was already in command and as Hi Royal began to weaken it was the winner’s stablemate Cairo who made late gains from the rear to claim second, beaten two lengths.

Royal Scotsman was sent off the 6-4 favourite but never looked like getting involved as O’Brien claimed a 12th victory in the race, although it was his first since Churchill in 2017.

The winner is now the 4-1 second favourite for the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot with Coral, who have Newmarket winner Chaldean as the 11-8 market leader.

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  • Fergie enjoying time in the sun with Spirit Dancer Fergie enjoying time in the sun with Spirit Dancer

    Sir Alex Ferguson has said it is “an honour” to have bred a horse good enough to run in a race such as the Dubai Sheema Classic with Spirit Dancer, who is chasing an overseas treble.

    Trained by Richard Fahey, the seven-year-old has been a real late bloomer and a plan hatched after a victory in a Group Three at York has well and truly come to fruition.

    Victories in the Bahrain Trophy and the Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia have propelled the Frankel gelding into the highest company and he is now taking on the likes of dual Derby and Breeders’ Cup winner Auguste Rodin and Japanese filly Liberty Island.

    “He’s looking great, I think he’s enjoying it out here actually, who wouldn’t, the climate is fantastic,” Ferguson told the Dubai Racing Club.

    “It’s been success all the way, there’s been improvement every race. We’re honoured to be here, the type of race he’s going to be in, it’s outstanding opposition.”

    It will be Spirit Dancer’s first run over a mile and a half but it is something Fahey has been keen to try for some time.

    Ferguson added: “We’re quietly confident. In fairness, Richard has said all along that he thinks he’s a mile and a half horse. His Frankel pedigree suggests he should be able to cope with it, so we’re hopeful in that respect, but we don’t know.

    “It’s an honour to have a horse in a race of this magnitude that you’ve bred yourself.

    “When he won at York, Richard told us we were going to Bahrain and I said ‘Bahrain! What do we want to go there for?’ – and he said there was a great race there for him, so he’s the architect and we’re not going to argue with what he’s doing.

    “We’ve enjoyed it, we’ve had a few days in Bahrain, a few days in Saudi and now a week here. It’s fantastic.”

    It has been one success after another for Ferguson, who as well as enjoying victories abroad with Spirit Dancer, celebrated a Cheltenham Festival double earlier this month.

  • Ancient Wisdom given Guineas target ahead of Derby date Ancient Wisdom given Guineas target ahead of Derby date

    Charlie Appleby is likely to point last season’s Doncaster Futurity winner Ancient Wisdom at the Qipco 2000 Guineas as a stepping stone to a crack at the Betfred Derby.

    The Moulton Paddocks handler feels the Newmarket Classic – for which the Aidan O’Brien-trained City Of Troy is the red-hot favourite – is more attractive than the longer Dante Stakes at York to give the son of Dubawi a trial for Epsom in early June.

    He explained: “Ancient Wisdom won the Futurity on very soft ground and has been held in high regard from very early in his career.

    “After getting beaten at Ascot he progressed physically, as you would expect from a Dubawi.”

    Appleby is concerned that the Dante is closer to Epsom than ideal and added: “It’s possible there will be slow ground for the Guineas, and we will take a look at that with the view that a mile and a half will prove his forte.

    “If I waited for York and the ground was soft, there’s not much time left until Derby to put things right should they go wrong, and it would be a more ambitious route to take.”

    Appleby also had news on his unbeaten Classic-bound filly Dance Sequence.

    He said: “Dance Sequence has done well. William (Buick) sat on her the other day and was delighted. We will take her to the Nell Gwyn and then the English Guineas.”

  • Abernant next on the agenda for Marshman Abernant next on the agenda for Marshman

    Karl Burke’s Marshman has a Group race return pencilled in after a pleasing second-placed run in the Cammidge Trophy.

    The four-year-old was stepping back up to six furlongs for his first outing of the season after predominantly running over shorter distances last year.

    Under Clifford Lee, the colt started as the 3-1 joint-favourite and ran a fine race to finish second by a neck when collared by William Haggas’ Montassib on the line.

    The performance has warranted the decision to return to the six-furlong trip over which Marshman was second in the Gimcrack as a two-year-old, with the Group Three Abernant at Newmarket and the Group Two Duke of York Stakes on the agenda for the spring.

    Nick Bradley of owners Nick Bradley Racing, who also owned the sixth and seventh-placed horses in the race, said: “My other two horses were in the brunt of the headwind and both found the last furlong a furlong too far.

    “Marshman took it up and he was just beaten by a very good horse that the race was run to suit.

    “I couldn’t have been happier with Marshman’s performance, for me it was one of the best three or four performances of his career.

    “I was speaking to Kelly and Karl (Burke) this morning and we’re now thinking that we’re going to go to the Abernant at Newmarket and he’ll have an entry in the Duke of York next week.

    “That’s the plan, Abernant then Duke of York.”

    Marshman’s run was part of a successful meeting for Bradley’s horses, with Look Back Smiling taking first place for trainer Gemma Tutty in the Spring Mile Handicap.

    “I did think going into it that he was our best chance of the weekend, he had underfoot conditions to suit, the track was perfect for him and the trip was perfect for him,” he added.

    “Brandon (Wilkie) gave him a brilliant ride, when he got to the front he didn’t idle but he did wander around a bit and Brandon did a great job of keeping him straight to the line.

    “Hats off to Gemma – to get a horse like that ready on the opening day of the season deserves a great amount of credit.”

    Look Back Smiling will require cut in the ground wherever he goes next and there is a long-term plot to target a valuable handicap at Ascot in October.

    “He is ground dependent, I’ve sent a list of about 12 races to the owners – a couple at Redcar, a couple at the Craven meeting,” Bradley said.

    “He’s a horse that when we get him on a straight track over a mile, he is in his optimum conditions.

    “I’m thinking a long way ahead but I’ve got the Balmoral Handicap on Champions Day in mind.

    “He isn’t going to be high enough to get in that just yet, I’m hoping by the end of the season he’ll be rated high 90s and we can go for something like the Balmoral.”

    Bradley also looks to have a promising recruit in Grant Tuer’s Indication Ember, who finished third with a taking run on her racecourse debut in the Brocklesby.

    “Her pedigree screamed soft ground at us, so we wanted to get her out when soft ground was a certainty,” he said.

    “She was staying on right to the line, she ran the fastest final furlong and she’s going to go to Redcar on April 15, all being well.

    “I don’t think I’d swap her for any other horse in the race. Sam (James, jockey) was very bullish after the race and we’ve got a couple at home who go as well as her.

    “It did put a spring in our step, a nice run in what was the first two-year-old race of the season.”

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