Tag Archive for: Chester

Savethelastdance steps out for scintillating Cheshire Oaks success

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Savethelastdance waltzed her way to clear Betfred Oaks favouritism with an emphatic display in the Weatherbys Digital Solutions Cheshire Oaks.

Ridden patiently at the rear of the cluster by Ryan Moore as Pam Sly’s Wintercrack led the field along, the daughter of Galileo still had plenty of work to do as Charlie Johnston’s Sirona went to tackle the front-running Wintercrack with just over three furlongs to run.

As Sirona moved to the head of the pack, Moore was making significant headway aboard the 8-11 favourite and when the Ballydoyle number one pressed the button on drawing alongside Sirona she soon left the opposition trailing in her wake to register a bloodless 22-length success in rain-softened ground.

It was Aidan O’Brien’s eighth success in the Listed event to become the most successful trainer in the Roodee feature, one ahead of Barry Hills whom he was previously locked on seven with.

Savethelastdance, meanwhile, is out of Daddys Lil Darling who famously bolted to post and was withdrawn from Enable’s Oaks in 2017, but it is hoped her daughter will fare better on the Surrey Downs with Betfair going 2-1 from 5-1 for the Epsom Classic on June 2, while Paddy Power go even shorter and make her the 13-8 favourite.

Riding his sixth winner of the race, Moore said: “I was very impressed, you can only be impressed by what she’s done there. 

“They kind of all gave up with half a mile to go and she was just getting going, but she gave me a very good feel – she’s probably given me as good a feel in this race as the ones I’ve ridden (in it before). 

“She stepped a little slow, but they went very hard early on and she just relaxed and followed them round.

“I thought I’d just make sure she knew what she had to do and she stretched all the way to the line and ran right through the line.”

O’Brien watched on from his Ballydoyle base – and was pleased with what he saw.

“We were delighted with her,” he said. “Obviously we were delighted with her in her maiden and we’ve been delighted with her since.

“Obviously it’s unusual for them to win that far, but she’s a very well-bred filly.

“She handled the ground well. I think it was soft enough the first day she won as well.

“I think she will (handle quicker ground). She’s a good moving filly, a big rangy filly and I think Ryan was very happy with her as well.

“That (Epsom) is the plan.”

Ziggy’s Phoenix rises to Chester challenge for Middleham one-two

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Ziggy’s Phoenix was away well and made every yard of the running to lead home a Middleham Park Racing one-two in the CAA Stellar Lily Agnes Conditions Stakes at Chester.

The Richard Hannon-trained filly won from the front at Ripon when breaking her duck on her second start and it was a similar story sent off the 9-4 favourite on the Roodee.

Handed a plum draw in stall one, the daughter of Kodiac pinged the gates in the hands of Ryan Moore, and having burned off Balon D’Or – who matched the winner stride for stride until the home straight – held on gamely when fellow Middleham Park runner Ziggy’s Dream, began to fly in the closing stages.

In the aftermath she was handed a quote of 14-1 by both Paddy Power and Betfair for the Queen Mary Stakes over the same five-furlong trip at Royal Ascot.

Middleham Park’s Mike Prince said: “Ziggy’s Phoenix was smart from the stalls, she’s an uncomplicated filly with plenty of speed and just bossed it from the front really.

“Interestingly, Ziggy’s Dream might be the horse to take form the race as she missed it (the break) and finished like a train. If you ran the race again would the result be different? It might well be.

“We think they’re both black-type fillies so that’s what we’d be planning with them next.

“There’s the National Stakes at Sandown and there’s a Listed race at Vichy as well. It will probably be one of those, maybe the National Stakes for Ziggy’s Phoenix.

“I’m sure Tim (Palin, syndicate manager) will be plotting with Richard and plotting with Alice (Haynes, trainer of Ziggy’s Dream) where to go. We might keep them apart next time and they might come together again at Royal Ascot.”

Balon D’Or aiming to hit Agnes target for Owen

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Hugo Palmer’s highly-regarded Balon D’Or has a wide draw to overcome in the Caa Stellar Lily Agnes Conditions Stakes on the opening day of the Boodles May Festival at Chester.

The Kodiac colt is owned and was bred by Michael Owen – and named as a nod to the revered annual football award he won in 2001, the former England striker saying he hoped he had “saved a special name for a special horse.”

Balon D’Or made his debut in early April and was a taking winner when coming home a neck to the good, especially considering he was carried markedly right by another horse the moment he left the stalls.

His Chester draw in stall 11, widest of all, does not help his cause but some of the field could defer to a maiden event on Thursday and so he could find himself more handily placed come post time.

“He did really well on debut and I think he’s come forward for it, but he’s got a terrible draw,” Palmer said.

“He’s been given a mountain to climb but that is the luck of the draw, he’s well and we’ll just have to see how we go as there might be some non runners which would help.”

Palmer has a second runner in the contest in Tierney, a Mehmas filly out of a four-time winning mare called Madam Macie who makes her debut in the race.

“She’s a nice filly. Like all of ours, she will come forward and improve for her debut but she’s a nice speedy filly that we like.”

Curragh-based trainer John O’Donoghue is set to have his first Chester runner in debut winner Parkside Boy.

The Kuroshio colt is out of top racemare Carry On Katie, a Group One heroine who won both the Lowther Stakes and the Cheveley Park in 2003.

He ran for the first time in a Dundalk maiden in mid April and duly won by half a length under Ronan Whelan, with this Chester contest then quickly identified as his next target.

“He’s been trained for this race since he won at Dundalk, we feel that a sharp, turning five furlongs is very much his forte,” O’Donoghue said.

“Thankfully we’ve got a bit of luck with the draw in stall four, so we’re looking forward to getting him out again.

“He’s precocious and we didn’t waste any time between when he was broken and pre-trained and then sent to us. Hopefully he’s as effective as his frame and his pedigree suggest at this time of year as a two-year-old.”

Middleham Park Racing own the first two horses in the market in Ziggy’s Phoenix and Ziggy’s Dream, trained by Richard Hannon and Alice Haynes respectively.

Ziggy’s Phoenix was beaten a length on her debut at Kempton in April, after which she headed to Ripon for her first run on turf in a five-furlong novice.

There she was a comfortable winner, crossing the line a length and three-quarters ahead of her nearest rival under Joe Fanning as the 11-4 joint favourite.

Ziggy’s Dream has only one run under her belt but it was a winning performance at Doncaster, where she landed a five-furlong maiden by a length and a quarter on soft ground.

“They’re both named by the same person (co-owner) Simon Woods, it’s a privilege to have two runners in this prestigious race,” said Tim Palin of Middleham Park.

“We won this in 2011 with Lily’s Angel and these are two really nice fillies, we didn’t want to run them (against each other) but both trainers were keen to run so we declared them.

“They’ve both got soft ground form, any rain that falls shouldn’t hinder them – it might even just enhance their chances a wee bit because both horses will stay further.

“They’ll both get six furlongs in time. I think the reason Ziggy’s Phoenix is favoured by the betting market is just that she’s drawn in that pole position, she’s drawn one whereas as Ziggy’s Dream’s (stall six) form is just as good I think, the Racing Post say 3lb better and Timeform say four.

“They’re two nice fillies and hopefully after the first 100 yards they’ll be in the first wave and may the best Ziggy win, may the best horse in the race win.

“We’re there with our two fillies, we think they’re nice and hopefully they’ll be involved in the finish.”

Arrest aiming to state Classic case at Chester

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Arrest will put his Derby credentials to the test under Frankie Dettori in Wednesday’s Boodles Chester Vase, with connections unsure if the tight track will suit the colt.

The John and Thady Gosden-trained son of Frankel takes on four rivals in the extended mile-and-a-half Group Three contest, with the race considered “Plan C” after Sandown’s Classic Trial was abandoned.

He opened his account at the second attempt in a mile maiden at the Esher track and, having subsequently won at Ffos Las, was beaten a head by Dubai Mile in the Group One Criterium de Saint-Cloud.

Barry Mahon, European racing manager for the Juddmonte operation, explained why the race is a third option.

“Chester is probably not his ideal track, but we were meant to go to Sandown and unfortunately it was abandoned with the rain,” he said.

“The Vase was Plan C as originally we were going to the Dee Stakes (on Thursday), (but) the forecast is giving plenty of rain coming in on the Wednesday afternoon and night, so we said we’d go for the fresh ground on Wednesday.

“He is ready to run and we are hopeful he will run a nice race if he can handle the turns and undulations of Chester.

“Arrest is in good form. I saw him on Saturday and physically he’s done well from two to three. He was a big frame last year and he is definitely a stronger horse this year.

“John and Thady said the other morning that the experience of Chester would do him good. If we ended up going to Epsom, he will have that under his belt.

“We have seen it in the last few years with Aidan (O’Brien) and Barry Hills before that, they all take them to Chester for the reason that they get that experience, with the crowd on top of them.

“We had two quiet days at Sandown and then at Ffos Las – not too many people and not too much happening.

“The travel to France has done him good. He has enough miles under his belt and hopefully he’ll be able to handle it and the form with Dubai Mile looks good. He ran a good race in the Guineas when you look at his finishing position (fifth).”

There has been no more successful combination in the Chester Vase than jockey Ryan Moore and trainer Aidan O’Brien, who have won the race eight and 10 times respectively.

The partnership, successful last year with Changingoftheguard, rely on Adelaide River, runner-up in a pair of Group Threes last season before finishing third in the Saint-Cloud race.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien (right) and Ryan Moore have an unmatched record in the Chester Vase
Trainer Aidan O’Brien (right) and Ryan Moore have an unmatched record in the Chester Vase (Brian Lawless/PA)

The son of Australia makes his Classic-season bow with his rider expecting him to progress.

“He probably ran to a similar level form in his three starts after his debut win, ending up with a third in that one-mile-and-two-furlong Group One race at Saint-Cloud at the back-end,” Moore told his Betfair blog.

“Rain wouldn’t be a hindrance to his chances and hopefully he can kick on at three, though he has six lengths to find with Arrest on that French form.”

Hadrianus, who was narrowly defeated by the Gosdens’ Epictetus in the Blue Riband Trial at Epsom, Michael Bell’s Duke Of Oxford, who is unbeaten after two all-weather runs, and the Andrew Balding-trained Galactic Jack complete the line-up.