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Murtagh sweet on chances of Master of the Horse.
Having ridden a perfect race on Perfect Truth this afternoon, Johnnie Murtagh indicated in a subsequent interview, he was very keen on the chances of Ballydoyle entrant Master of the Horse in tomorrow's Chester Vase.
The Coolmore stable jockey believes his mount in the Group 2 contest has come on tremendously over the winter, and he expects the colt to perform at a much higher standard as a three year old.
Sohrab makes it so easy.
Cruising in behind the number one drawn Strike Up The Band in the Class 2 Boodle and Dunthorpe Sprint on the Rooddee today, Eddie Ahern must have known from a long way out he had the race in the bag as favourite Sohrab swung sweetly on the bridle. For much of the early race, the smart starting Strike Up The Band and bottom weight Angus News fought it out, but as Angus News faded slightly, Sohrab came alongside the remaining leader, then with an injection of extra pace, he broke clear over the final half furlong to win as he liked.
The winner could well go up to Listed class for his next engagement, while Strike Up The Band ran a good race in second place, and Angus News, who prefers six furlongs, just held on to third position in today's five furlong contest.
Daraahem gives Hills fourth Chester Cup.
At the age of seventy two, Barry Hills is the first to admit he is having the best start to a season he can ever remember. Fresh from scoring his three thousandnth winner, including three hundred victories at Newmarket, his early season winners have included Ghanaati's sensational first place in Sunday's 1,000 Guineas, and today Daraahem provided the Hills team with their fourth Chester Gold Cup, plus the milestone of one hundred and fifty winners at Chester.
Riding a sensible race, Richard Hills always kept Daraahem close to the pace, and as the field entered the home straight for the last time he passed Desert Sea, and took the lead. Close home Henry Cecil's Ajaan, and the staying on Halla San looked like dangers for a second, but Daraahem is not short of stamina, and he kept going to score, with Ajaan, Halla San and Desert Sea occupying the minor honours.
Perfect ride gets Perfect Truth home in Cheshire Oaks.
It would be fair to say, Johnnie Murtagh stole today's Cheshire Oaks, and he did it by giving his filly a perfect ride.
Having listened to trainer Aidan O'Brien, Murtagh knew his filly had lots of stamina, so he set her off at a cracking pace right from the stalls. Handling the tight turns on the Rooddee with consummate ease, by the time Perfect Truth entered the back straight, she had a five length lead, and she continued to bowl along on the sound surface. Only when she entered the home straight for the final time did her stride begin to shorten, but by then, she had all her rivals off the bridle. In the last furlong, Sir Michael Stoute's Oaks fancy Phillipina had started to make giant strides into the lead, but Perfect Truth managed to hang on for a narrow margin victory, and gave the Ballydoyle camp a perfect start to the Chester three day Festival.
Boys see off the girls in Lilly Agnes.
In the first race of the three day Chester Festival, the two colts, Star Rover and Archer's Road, dominated proceedings. Despite having unfavourable outside draws, Both colts used their racing experience to shoot from the starting stalls, and once in first and second places, it turned into a two horse battle throughout the five furlong sprint.
Once in the Rooddee's short straight, Archer's Road's jockey tried everything to pass Star Rover, who had bagged the inside running rail, but his partner John Egan kept him up to the task, and he stayed on to score an early season hat trick of victories.
Her Majesty's runners to get old city seasonal debuts.
The Queen's classic pretenders will both have the opportunity to show their potential within the next week. Free Agent, the winner of the Chesham Stakes last season, will put his Derby chances on the line in this Friday's Group 3 Dee Stakes at Chester. Most opposition is likely to come from Aidan O'Brien's Drum Beat, and Big Bound, who was last seen finishing in second position behind Above Average in the Sandown Classic Trial.
A week today, Her Majesty's unbeaten filly Enticement is scheduled as one of the entrants in York's Musadora Stakes, and a win in this recognised trial will certainly enhance her Oaks claims.
No Overdose at Haydock Park?
Hungarian sprint star Overdose, who is affectionately known as the 'Budapest Bullet, may miss his first intended target in Britain. Trainer Sandor Ribarszki has indicated the injury to his horse's front foot, which occurred when he kicked off a racing plate on his front foot during his last victory, is taking longer to heal than anticipated, and connections do not think he will recover in time to train thoroughly for his intended target of the Temple Stakes at Haydock Park two weeks on Saturday.
If this becomes the situation, Overdose will probably go straight to Royal Ascot for the Kings Stand and Golden Jubilee Stakes.
Bolger Sextet for Guineas Trial.
Coolcullen based Jim Bolger has won the Derrinstown 1,000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown on no less than five occasions since 1994, and he appears to be going into this weekend's renewal of the race 'mob handed'. At present he has six potential entrants including; Aaroness, Blas Ceoil, Buiochas Mor, Duaisbhanna, Maidin Maith, and Curragh winner Oh Goodness Me.
In comparison, Aidan O'Brien, who has also won this one mile Group 3 contest on five occasions, only has two potential entrants in the form of Empress of France and Totally Devoted. While Dermot Weld, who won this race last year with Carribbean Coral, also has two entrants, Firey Red and Luminous Eyes.
Arazan being aimed at Irish 2,000 Guineas.
Arazan, who was thought to be the number one three year old colt in the John Oxx stable prior to Sea of Stars's victory in last Saturday's Newmarket 2,000 Guineas, will run in the Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh, providing ground conditions exhibit cut. The colt, bred by the Aga Khan, was pulled from the Newmarket contest due to the firm ground, so any drying weather over the next two weeks will not be in his favour.
Cumani incredulous at Fantasia price.
Although Fantasia was a very impressive winner of the Nell Gwyn Stakes at the Newmarket Craven meeting, trainer Luca Cumani believes her current odds on price for the French 1,000 Guineas this weekend is 'incredible'. Speaking yesterday, the trainer commented,
"I know she won well at Newmarket, but that was a Group 3, and she has some good fillies to overcome this weekend, and as we saw with Rainbow view, these Group 1 contests are difficult to win".
No rain forecast for Chester Festival.
The weather men are predicting the incoming Atlantic fronts are going to scoot across the top of the UK during the next three days, so no significant rain is forecast to fall on the Rooddee racecourse for the whole of the three day Chester Festival.
With the current going being firm to good, as my old dad used to say, 'it will suit daisycutters'.
Mullins planning French raid.
Having recently sealed another national hunt season as the Champion Trainer of Eire, and accruing 2,817,300 euros in winnings, Willie Mullins is planning to raid the top French national hunt races, most of which take place at Autueil in June.
Laying out his plans in an interview yesterday, Mullins stated he intends to take a rading party of five or six horses to the French national hunt Champions Meeting next month. Fiveforthree, who has only had three races over the last twelve months, but who won the World Series Hurdle at Punchestown last week, will be his high profile runner, and the party is also likely to include; Quevega, J'Y Vole, Mourad, and one or two other useful types.
Bearing in mind, Mullins gave Hurrican Fly an outing at Autueil last June, and he turned out to be the top novice of the 2008 2009 national hunt season, so whatever he sends to France will be worth following in the next twelve months.
Retirement for Brave Inca.
After a career which included ten victories at Grade 1 level, plus becoming Cheltenham Champion Hurdler in 2006, trainer Colm Murphy has announced the retirement of Brave Inca. In an emotional statement, the Wexford handler paid tribute to his eleven year old, and called Brave Inca, "a horse in a million".
However, it is understood the racing public will still get plenty of opportunities to show their gratitude to the superb hurdler as part of his retirement plan includes undertakingpersonal appearances at various racing festivals during future years.
Curragh reduces admission prices.
The Curragh is the latest major racecourse to reduce its admission prices for its upcoming summer meetings. Many of the leading courses are intent on ensuring large crowds are maintained during the current world economic recession, so in the short-term, the cutting of prices helps everyone, and it might also help to attract the 19 to 25 age group into racing, thereby creating a new audience for future horse racing.
Musselburgh join Racingsight on Twitter.
Two weeks ago Racingsight joined the growing number of businesses using Twitter to promote their message, and now Musselburgh racecourse have become the first racecourse in Scotland to post their own 'Tweet' on the Twitter Network.
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