Last year’s Nell Gwyn Stakes winner, Cachet, won the 1,000 guineas at Newmarket 16-1 three weeks later, so it’s best not to underestimate what Wednesday’s classic round will win.
Kashe’s daring young coach, George Bowie, now manages two, Stay and Queen Ollie, but neither has any clear claims to what appears to be a hot makeover.
Coppis, one of five undefeated fillies out of 15, is a much more likely winner.
Like many of John Gosden’s top riders in recent years, this sibling of the stylish Calyx has tried all-weather action for the first time, and while her comfortable win at Kempton last fall was nothing special, she made a big impression on her rider, Rab Havlin.
Now Frankie Dettori, who already has the most Nell Gwyn victories (seven) to his name, is becoming Kingman’s daughter and in another six months we can look forward to her in the shape needed to give her a real shot at giving the season’s first classic mare May 7th
Gosden’s Golden Horn won the Listed Fielden Stakes in 2015 and went on to win the Derby and pretty much every other major international race on that year’s calendar, but that’s not usually a springboard for glory these days.
This time, the stable is represented by Intinso, along with Holly Doyle, who has an assignment from the owner, Imad Alsagar.
Intinso has a much tougher job on paper than when he scored at Newcastle last October, but he has 2,000 entries for Guinness, Dante and Derby so it’s safe to assume a lot more can be expected.
Charlie Appleby’s team is always ready to play the season opener at Newmarket and indeed he was out of competition with the two winning favorites.
The Ottoman Navy was the star of the show when it dived late under William Buick to win the Earl of Sefton Stakes, the four-year-old’s first group level success.
“He seems to be making progress on this pitch, so that was his main goal after three successful runs in Dubai,” the coach said. “He was fit and healthy and we were confident.”
Newmarket tips for Wednesday
- 1.50 Dionysian (Each way) 11-1: Won the last two starts in style and, despite the heavy weight, is looking forward to completing his hat-trick.
- 3.55 grove (Next best score) 2-1: Can settle business here for 1000 guineas crack.
Majestic Pride started the Appleby-Buick double in the first match but made it pretty rough and probably won’t move into the 2000 Newmarket guineas next month.
Dettori, on the other hand, is tired but happy after kicking off his last campaign on home soil with an easy win aboard Covey in the Maiden.
He explained, “I got back from America this morning and only slept two hours on the plane and two hours in my bed, but I needed to start somewhere and I felt Covey was a good favourite.”
Source: I News
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