Simon and Ed Crisford look to have another high-class prospect on their hands after Quddwah maintained his unbeaten record with victory in the Listed Paradise Stakes at Ascot.
The well-bred Kingman colt made an impressive winning debut at Salisbury before carrying a penalty to victory when he stepped up a mile at Newmarket in May last year. A small setback kept the Simon and Ed Crisford -trained off the track for the remainder of the season, but he quickly made up for lost time with a hardy performance that will likely set up a tilt at the Queen Anne back at Ascot in June.
It always looked likely to be a tactical affair with little pace on paper and it proved just that. Docklands and Oisin Murphy set out to make the running over the mile trip on Ascot's straight course, but the pair were quickly joined by the free-going Maljoom, who was making his first outing since finishing fifth in the Joel Stakes at Newmarket in September.
Harry Eustaces' Britannia Stakes hero soon mastered the 2/1 market leader Maljoom with a couple of furlongs to run but he quickly faced a new challenge in the shape of Quddwah, who stayed on powerfully in the closing stages to score by a going away neck under William Buick.
Docklands battled on well to fill the runner-up stages but ultimately could never quite get back on terms with the 4/1 winner, who looks set for bigger and better things going forward.
"He's a very big horse who has been off for 11 months and we did as much as we could at home, but we never took him away," said Ed Crisford. "I thought he would get a bit tired, but there was not much pace on, and he got a lovely tow into the race – it was a lovely ride.
"He won at Newmarket nicely and we were due to run him at the July meeting in a Listed race, but just before he got a little issue and we had to put him away. However, he'd always shown he was a horse on the up.
"He's a very immature horse still as you saw when he was going in the stalls, he's only had two runs and he will come on a bundle for this, he's a big baby. I was really impressed by how he battled at the end.
The striking son of Kingman was cut to 20/1 (from 40s) for Queen Anne glory in June with Paddy Power and all roads look likely to lead to the Royal Meeting according to trainer Ed Crisford. "We put him in the Queen Anne, and we'll speak to Sheikh Ahmed and there's the Diomed Stakes at Epsom along the way as an option. He's a horse with ability who is learning his trade and hopefully a fun horse to have," explained Crisford.
"He's a bit immature and the track (at Epsom) might be a lot, but we have to look at what the options are, and he just wants bringing along in a nice manner. He is in the Queen Anne, and I don't think I'd have reservations about that, because he'll come on a lot from this, and it just depends on what happens in the next few weeks.
"This was only his third race and he's still got his whole future ahead of him. He's a very nice horse to have in the stable.
"It's just getting going after a rough winter for all the horses but it's nice to get a nice winner at Ascot."
