Henry Candy added the Listed Height Of Fashion Stakes to his CV this afternoon when his filly, Araminta (15/2), showed a bright turn of foot to collect the prize at Goodwood.
Henry Candy added the Listed Height Of Fashion Stakes to his CV this afternoon when his filly, Araminta (15/2), showed a bright turn of foot to collect the prize at Goodwood.
She made a winning debut on soft ground at Newbury in April and produced an excellent effort to finish third in the William Hill Conqueror Fillies' Stakes at Goodwood earlier in the month.
Trip and ground were both question marks coming into her third start but clearly, neither was an issue as she bounded clear up the Sussex straight to score by an authoritative one-and-a-half lengths under Trevor Whelan. Ralph Beckett's Understated came out of the race with plenty of credit as she finished runner-up on her second start while Secret Solace was back in third.
Speaking with Racing TV, trainer Henry Candy said: "I haven't done very much with her. You might have noticed she's not the easiest person. She won't go into the saddling box, didn't want to go down, didn't want to go in the stalls, that sort of thing. She's quite a lady so I do as little as I possibly can with her. Early on she showed us quite a lot of speed so I'm surprised she can manage to stay as well."
"Trevor [Wheelan] did say that the big, boarded fence at the end was coming up pretty quick and he had a hell of a job to pull her up! She gets the trip alright!"
"There could be plenty more to come I hope because she's a lovely big filly. Lots of size and scope. So, let's hope there is more to come."
"I don't think she'll be running a mile and a half any time soon. It might happen eventually, but I think we'll stick with where we are for the moment."
Barnwell Boy bounds into Royal Ascot picture
Elsewhere on the card, the British EBF Novice Stakes has unearthed some high-class talent over the years with the likes of Masar and Royal Scotsman featuring on the roll of honour.
The Charlie Johnston-trained Barnwell Boy (5/1) could be the latest star to add to the honours list as he seemingly booked his Royal Ascot ticket with an emphatic four-and-a-half-length victory.
Mark Johnston spoke with Racing TV following the performance and said: "We'll go home and talk about it. I'm not going to pre-empt that and get them too excited if that's not the way we're going but with any two-year-old winner at this time of year you always have to be thinking is this an Ascot candidate or not."
"The fact that Oisin [Murphy] has come in and you've told me how fast he was against the clock and Oisin has come in and said this horse can go 5f. Maybe we will be thinking something like the Windsor Castle."
Gregory gallops rivals into submission to land Cocked Hat Stakes
It was something of a family affair at Goodwood this afternoon as Gregory (4/7 fav) followed in the footsteps of his half-brother Lionel to land the Listed Cocked Hat Stakes and remain unbeaten.
The Normandie Stud-owned Colt created a favourable impression when making a successful start to his career at Haydock. The son of Golden Horn took some stoking up throughout numerous stages of the contest but ultimately galloped on strongly for an impressive three-length victory over fellow debut winner Klondike.
Speaking with Racing TVs Nick Luck, Normandie Stud's Philippa Cooper said: "He's had a very different journey to Lionel. He's ran once in a novice and then come here. Lionel ran at two and then had quite a hard race here so it's a very different journey."
Paddy Power cut Gregory from 25/1 to 12/1 for this year's Doncaster St Leger Stakes.
