A bit early to start, maybe a false start, but the Gosden's saddle the King's first flat runner of 2023 in the shape of the once-raced Comely at Kempton on Wednesday. She ran no sort of race a month ago and hopefully will do better this time. Rather than being ridden by Havlin, she's the mount of Collen Storey, who's a South African rider trying to make a breakthrough in this country. He has ridden a few winners so far (including a 125-1 shot) and the wins include one for the Gosdens. Don't know if he intends to stay in the UK as he has a few booked mounts at Greyville in a fortnight's time. Perhaps this is a going away present and one can only hope it's a winning one. Not much else to say. Still no 2yos named and only two 2yos definitely placed with a trainer (those being Beckett's two). According to Bell's lists he has only one Royal 3yo (missing two 2yos he had last year) and no 2yos so far, while Cox is not showing his remaining 2yo he had last year (3yo this) or any 2yos amongst his list. Balding and Charlton have not listed their 2yos yet, though both have their expected 3yos.
Nice win for Calmly. Obviously learnt a lot from her first run and most important started well. She was always in the van and swinging into the straight seemed to be going best.She came away from the field with the eventual second but in the last half-furlong found another gear and pulled away from her. Quite impressive I'd say and worth a watch. Nicely ridden by Storey, looked very neat and balanced. Important win as Shama, the dam, is very well bred (family of Shergar) and this looks her best foal so far. Will be interesting to see what they do with her. Beckett's two becomes three as he gets another Royal 2yo.
Yes, saw that. Either she was rushed to win a race and then they'll sell her or they made a mistake and underrated her. We'll soon find out if she's to be withdrawn or sold. Also noticed that all Bell's provisional 3yos are to be sold at that sale. Is that the end of Bell as a Royal trainer? He came in as the new boy on the block (after Motivator) in the mid-00's but didn't really have a lot of success outside of Set to Music. Perhaps some rationalisations are coming in. Just hope they are the right ones. Seems certain that Gosden, Balding, Haggas and Stoute remain on the roster. Charlton has published his 2yos and has none at the moment. He does have a 3yo, Garner. Would be surprised if Hughes missed out as he provisionally has two promising 3yo fillies. Cox's position looks more precarious. Until the 2yos are named it's impossible to track who istraining what.
No I smiled. Throughout a year the Royal Stud have always got rid of weaker stock. The skill is telling what is the weaker stock. L B Holiday often surprised people, and when he sold a filly in training who'd won the Lowther and other good races he really surprised them. He got a lot of money for her and she was extremely disappointing as a broodmare despite being beautifully bred. It was this ruthless streak that made Holiday such a successful breeder. Let's hope Warrren and Co. have the same judgement.
Yes, the winner had poor forelegs, plenty of Lost Soul progeny in Holliday's stud. She did through a NH sire in National Trust. If we are thinking of the right mare Fortune's Darling.
The Royal story gathers momentum. Garner is also entered for the sales in February, which puts Charlton's position in some doubt. He did quite well last year with 3 winners, so I am surprised about this. Historically the Monarch had a strong connection to Beckhampton. Meanwhile on the NH front 3 Royal horses are being sent to Jamie Snowden, with the named owner being the Queen Consort. Perhaps Longsdon didn't measure up.
Three 2yos show up on Balding's website, so he appears to be a fully paid up Royal trainer. For me the most interesting is a Saxon Warrior filly, who's a half-sister to Candle of Hope. He also has a Zoffany half-sister to Tactical. The trio is completed with a Land Force colt who's the last foal (perhaps) of Humdrum and so a half-brother to Humbolt Current.
The King has a nice listed winner in Australia with Chalk Stream winning the Australia Day Cup. Prize money is a tasty £83,000, which just reflects how the low the prize money is in this country. Chalk Stream has been with Chris Waller for more than a year. He was shipped out after winning 4 races as a 3yo gelding, and then coming second in a G3 race. His first races in Australia were on heavy going over only 8f. He didn't do too badly but prefers firmer ground and longer distances. Today's win was over 12f and he was a surprise winner at 21-1.
A quick look on the BHA site shows Perfect Alibi seems to be staying in training. This Le Havre 4yo filly was unraced as a 2yo and first got to the track at Newbury in April. She needed the experience and made a better showing when 4th at Ascot a month later. She won 3 (12f, 12f and 14f) of her next 5 starts, getting black type on the last two runs. She seemed to stay 14f and won on ground varying from to good to firm to good to soft. The plan must be to get a Group win with her. Just what the target will be I'm not sure. The Queen never had much luck keeping fillies to race as 4yos (except Estimate of course): hopefully the King will be luckier. This does mean there was only one new mare entering the Royal Stud in 2021: that being the Dubawi filly Mellow Yellow.