York Racecourse

Looking forward to the Group One's

30th June 2009

Bastiman hoping for repeat success in Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes

 

YORKSHIRE trainer Robin Bastiman is hoping his stable star Borderlescott can recapture his best for the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes at York on Friday, August 21.

The seven-year-old, who landed a popular success in last year’s renewal of the famous Group 1 sprint (staged at Newmarket after record rainfall forced the abandonment of the Ebor Festival) is among a 35-strong entry for the race, details of which are released today.

Bastiman’s charge has been in decent form already this season and finished second in the Group 2 Temple Stakes ahead of a fifth-place effort in the Group 1 King’s Stand at Royal Ascot.

But Bastiman, based near Wetherby, is convinced Borderlescott really gets into gear in the second half of the season and the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes is very much his key high-summer objective.

Bastiman said: “I was a little disappointed at Ascot but he is a strange horse to get ready and doesn’t really come to himself until July or August. He will have his day again, I’m sure. The Nunthorpe is a faster five (furlongs) than Ascot and that should suit him better.”

Bastiman is planning to prepare Borderlescott for the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes with a couple of other assignments in the interim.

He added: “He has come out of Ascot fine. He hasn’t done a lot since but he was jumping and squealing earlier today.

“I think he is going to go Chester next month for a Listed race (the City Wall Stakes, July 11). I just want to get his head in front again. Then we will go to Goodwood for a Group 3 (the King George Stakes, July 30) – and I’ve entered him in the Stewards’ Cup as well.”

King’s Stand runner-up Fleeting Spirit will also be aimed at the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes. She ran a fine race to take second spot behind Australian ace Scenic Blast.

Fleeting Spirit’s trainer Jeremy Noseda said: “We’ve given Fleeting Spirit an entry in the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes and it’s her number one target for the summer.

“Fast ground and the distance will suit us perfectly. All being well, she should go there with a very solid chance.”

“I was delighted with her run at Ascot. She ran her best race and was just beaten by the fastest sprinter on show at Ascot.”

Other intriguing entries include the 2007 Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes winner Kingsgate Native, Hungarian sprinter Overdose, Norfolk Stakes star Radiohead and the South African horse Mythical Flight, who will tackle a 5f conditions event at Newmarket on July 15 as his ‘prep’.

Oaks 1-2-3 all entered in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks

 

THE FIRST three home in the Investec Oaks could all meet again in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks at York on Thursday August 20.

Epsom heroine Sariska, runner-up Midday and the third High Heeled all feature in a 34-strong entry for the Group 1, which also includes last year’s Darley Yorkshire Oaks winner Lush Lashes and the 2009 Irish 1000 Guineas scorer, Again.

The first two home at Epsom look likely to renew acquaintances in the Darley Irish Oaks at The Curragh on Sunday, July 12. It could be, then, that the Darley Yorkshire Oaks will provide a third clash of the two rivals.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to Midday’s owner Prince Khalid Abdulla, said: “Midday has come out of the Oaks well and will probably go to the Irish equivalent. We are aiming towards that – and then on to York for the Darley Yorkshire Oaks.

“She handled Epsom and Lingfield so I don’t think that York will hold any terrors for her.”

Lush Lashes won three Group 1s in 2008 but has yet to recapture her best form in her two starts so far this season. But her trainer Jim Bolger, who has also entered Group 3 winner and Irish 1000 Guineas third Oh Goodness Me, feels it won’t be long before Lush Lashes is back on song.

He said: “I’m confident that Lush Lashes will regain her best form shortly and the Yorkshire Oaks is very much on her agenda. Oh Goodness Me will take her chance if for any reason Lush Lashes does not make it to York.”

Look Here, who ran so well to go down a nose and the same in a thrilling renewal of the Coronation Cup at Epsom almost three weeks ago, could be another classy campaigner to target the Darley Yorkshire Oaks. Connections are likely to give consideration to the race in the aftermath of her intended shot at the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes this Saturday at The Curragh.

Speaking about the 2008 Oaks winner, trainer Ralph Beckett said: “Look Here has got plenty of entries. She could go to York but she has other options. She is likely to run on Saturday in the Pretty Polly, so we will see after that.”

Godolphin have three entered in the race, including the intriguing Baila Me. The filly was trained in Germany last year and is another to have already won in Group 1 company but has yet to reappear since joining Godolphin.

Sea the Stars heads stunning entry for the Juddmonte International

 

DUAL Classic-winning hero Sea The Stars is among a top-class entry for this year’s Juddmonte International Stakes, which will be run at York on Tuesday August 18.

Earlier this month, the John Oxx-trained colt became the first horse since Nashwan in 1989 to follow up Classic success in the 2000 Guineas with a superb victory in the Derby.

Oxx reports Sea The Stars on course for another Derby assignment, this Sunday at The Curragh, and also indicates that the £600,000 Juddmonte International Stakes – the richest race ever staged at York – is very much in connections’ thinking.

The trainer said: “York is a distinct possibility because it is very likely that he will have a mile and a quarter campaign.
 
“The Juddmonte International would be high on the list and he is a summer horse who wants top of the ground. There is every chance that we would keep him going over the summer.”

Oxx added: “The horse is fine. He has come out of Epsom in good shape – none the worse for it. We are hoping to run him on Sunday in the Irish Derby but it depends on the weather in the mean time. There is some rain forecast so the ground could turn against him.

“If he didn’t run on Sunday he would run in the Coral Eclipse because we are keen enough to run him at a mile and a quarter. But we will get this weekend out of the way first.”

Ghanaati, the 1000 Guineas and Coronation Stakes winner, is an interesting entry, while Fame And Glory – second to Sea The Stars at Epsom – is among 20 horses entered by Aidan O’Brien.

Trainer Henry Cecil has Twice Over and Kandahar Run among the initial 48-strong entry. The latter has yet to run in 2009, but Twice Over gave a brave account of himself in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes in which he led for a long way down the straight before tiring in the final strides and ending up fourth, beaten a length.

Teddy Beckett, racing manager to the colt’s owner Prince Khalid Abdulla, said: “He ran a really good race in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes and for a moment it looked like he’d done enough to go and win it. He just got run out of it in the last few strides and wasn’t beaten very far.

“We haven’t finalised his programme yet but the Juddmonte International will feature quite strongly in our thinking. A mile and a quarter is about the right distance for him and the 10 furlongs at York is probably slightly easier than Ascot so it should suit him.”

The Juddmonte operation is also represented at the initial entry stage by Confront, Doctor Fremantle and Famous Name.

The Juddmonte International Stakes Entries:

Age of Aquarius (A.P. O’Brien), Black Bear Island (A.P. O’Brien), Campanologist (Saeed bin Suroor), Casual Conquest (D.K. Weld), Cima de Triomphe (L.M. Cumani), Conduit (Sir Michael Soute), Confront (Sir Michael Soute), Covert Ambition (Saeed bin Suroor), Doctor Freemantle (Sir Michael Soute), Donativum (Saeed bin Suroor), Drumbeat (A.P O’Brien), Eastern Anthem (Saeed bin Suroor), Fame and Glory (A.P O’Brien), Famous Name (D.K. Weld), Forgotten Voice (J. Noseda), Freemantle (A.P. O’Brien), Gan Amhras (J.S. Bolger), Georgebernardshaw (A.P. O’Brien), Ghanaati (B.W. Hills), Gladiatours (Saeed bin Suroor), Glass Harmonium (Sir Michael Soute), Golden Sword (A.P. O’Brien), Grand Ducal (A.P. O’Brien) Great Wisdom (A.P. O’Brien), Kandahar Run (H.R.A. Cecil), Kirklees (Saeed bin Suroor), Kite Wood (Saeed bin Suroor), Lady Marian (Saeed bin Suroor), Malibu Bay (A.P. O’Brien), Mastercraftsman (A.P. O’Brien), Masterofthehorse (A.P. O’Brien), Maurice Utrillo (A.P. O’Brien), Never On Sunday (J.C. Rouget), Perfect Stride (Sir Michael Soute), Poet (A.P. O’Brien), Prince Siegfried (Saeed bin Suroor), Recharge (K. Prendergast), Red Rock Canyon (A.P. O’Brien), Rio de La Plata (Saeed bin Suroor), Rip Van Winkle (A.P. O’Brien), Rockhampton (A.P. O’Brien), Sea The Sars (John M. Oxx), Set Sail (A.P. O’Brien), Tartan Bearer (Sir Michael Soute), Tazeez (J.H.M. Gosden), Trincot (Saeed bin Suroor), Twice Over (H.R.A. Cecil), Westphalia (A.P. O’Brien), Windsor Palace (A.P. O’Brien)

The Darley Yorkshire Oaks Entries:

Again (David Wachman), Baila Me (Saeed bin Suroor), Barshiba (D.R.C Elsworth), Beach Bunny (K. Prendergast), Beauty O’Gwaun (John M. Oxx), Chirkova (A.P. O’Brien), Clowance (R. Charlton), Copperbeech (Saeed bin Suroor), Dar Re Mi (J.H.M. Gosden), Enticement (Sir Michael Soute), Fallen In Love (J.L. Dunlop), Flame of Gibraltar (H.R.A. Cecil), Grace O’Malley (D.K. Weld), High Heeled (B.W. Hills), Lady Marian (Saeed bin Suroor), Look Here (R.M. Beckett), Lush Lashes (J.S Bolger), Midday (H.R.A. Cecil), Miracle Seeker (C.G. Cox), Oh Goodness Me (J.S. Bolger), Perfect Truth (A.P. O’Brien), Profound Beauty (D.K. Weld), Rainbow View (J.H.M. Gosden), Roman Express (A.P. O’Brien), Saphira’s Fire (W.R. Muir), Sapphire Bracelet (A.P. O’Brien), Sariska (M.L.W. Bell), Shamakiya (A. de Royer Dupre), Splashdown (L.M. Cumani), Take The Hint (J.H.M. Gosden), Tamarind (A.P. O’Brien), The Miniver Rose (R. Hannon), Three Moons (H.J.L. Dunlop), Winkle (M. Delzangles)

The Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes Entries:

Above Limits (Tom Dascombe), Amour Proper (H. Candy), Anglezarke (T.D. Easterby), Art Connoisseur (M.L.W. Bell), Benbaun, (K.A. Ryan), Borderlescott (R. Bastiman), Bushranger (David Wachman), Captain Dunn (T.D. Easterby), Captain Gerrard (B. Smart), Dandy Man (Saeed bin Suroor), Duff (Edward Lynam), Equiano (B.W. Hills), Excellerator (George Baker), Fleeting Spirit (J. Noseda),  Group Therapy (N.P. Littmodern), Heart Shaped (A.P. O’Brien), Ialysos (L.M Cumani), Jarqelle (K.A. Ryan), Kingsgate Native (Sir Michael Soute), Look Busy (A. Berry), Madame Trop Vite (K.A. Ryan), Moorhouse Lad (B. Smart), Mullionmileanhour (J.R. Best), Mythical Border (J. Noseda), Mythical Flight (S.G. Tarry), Overdose (S. Ribarszki), Prime Defender (B.W. Hills), Radiohead (B.J. Meehan), Reverence (E.J. Alston), Rievaulx World (K.A. Ryan), Starlit Sands (Sir Mark Prescott), Sugar Free (T. Stack), Tax Free (D. Nicholls), Waffle (J. Noseda), Wi Dud (K.A. Ryan)

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