The Group action is not limited to the Group 1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot on Saturday. The competitive undercard includes the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes, the Group 3 Valiant Stakes, and the Listed Pat Eddery Stakes.
The Group action is not limited to the Group 1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot on Saturday. The competitive undercard includes the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes, the Group 3 Valiant Stakes, and the Listed Pat Eddery Stakes.
In the 6f Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes (1:50), Symbology aims to uphold her unbeaten record following a comfortable debut York victory over the same distance. The Clive Cox-trained filly appeared very green in the early stages, hanging left in the final two furlongs before getting down to work and scoring by three-quarters of a length. There is plenty more to come from this daughter of Havana Grey, who is a half-sister to two Black Type performers in El Caballo and Avengers Queen.
Dazzling Star makes plenty of appeal at odds of 10/1, with a less impressive profile than the leading contenders. She was disappointing on debut at Kempton Park when hanging left throughout. The filly look a different horse entirely when taking a Newmarket maiden by three-and-a-half lengths at the end of June and the daughter of Blue Point should continue to improve.
WIN: DAZZLING STAR
Random Harvest can uphold her solid course form in the 1m Group 3 Valiant Stakes (2:25), having never finished out of the frame in four starts at the track. She has produced some solid efforts at long-odds this season, including a neck defeat on Ascot's straight course in the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes at the Royal meeting. The five-year-old has won on soft ground before, which could be key with an unsettled forecast for the twenty-four hours preceding the meeting.
Johnny Murtagh's Cadeau Belle takes a well-deserved step up into Group 3 company following her easy success in the Listed Kooyoonga Stakes. She won in the manner of a very good filly, making headway with two furlongs to go before pulling away from the field in the closing stages of the race. There is still potentially more to come after only two career starts and the daughter of Harry Angel won her maiden on soft ground, indicating the ground will not be a problem.
WIN: CADEAU BELLE
It is a strong renewal of the 7f Listed Pat Eddery Stakes (4:15) with Godolphin's two million euro purchase Ancient Wisdom heading the betting.
An impressive five-length winner of a Haydock novice affair, Ancient Wisdom produced a near-identical performance at Newmarket (July) for jockey James Doyle. On both occasions, he travelled strongly in the early part of the race before being encouraged to take the lead around the two furlong marker, drifting left as he was asked for an effort. At Newmarket, he was kept to his task by James Doyle inside the final furlong but allowed to ease up before the finish, shaping considerably better than the one-and-three-quarter winning margin suggested.
The step up to seven furlongs is a positive for the colt and he may prove difficult to beat from the Charlie Appleby yard, who are in excellent form (27% from last fourteen days).
WIN: ANCIENT WISDOM
RACING & SPORTS SELECTIONS
RACE 1 – WELCOME DREAM
RACE 2 – DAZZLING STAR
RACE 3 – CADEAU BELLE
RACE 4 – BIGGLES
RACE 5 – PYLEDRIVER
RACE 6 – ANCIENT WISDOM
RACE 7 – LATTAM
RACE 8 – THE BIG BOARD
