Tuesday 16 June
Thirsk 2.20 – 6F fillies maiden (Class 5) Good to Firm
Ten fillies contested this maiden race, the non runners were MOLIVIAS GEM and NEFETARI (bruised foot). There were four debutantes in the field.
DUTCH MIST (Kevin Ryan) had finished fifth on debut over 5F at Nottingham, beaten about two lengths, but was staying on towards the end. The first two home have been declared to run in the Queen Mary Stakes (Group 2) at Royal Ascot tomorrow. She opened up on course at 3/1 and was supported in to 2/1 favourite.
Tucked in behind the leaders, at the two furlong pole, DUTCH MIST was still several lengths adrift. However, she was ridden and pulled out towards the centre of the track staying on to lead inside the last furlong and won by a length. Purchased as a yearling for 45000 guineas, she was then resold at a Breeze Up sale for £50000. Her dam won a 6F maiden and her only other foal remains a maiden after six starts.
STAR FOCUS, for Mark Johnston, had finished third on her debut at Hamilton, trading very short in the run. The fourth horse (ENCANTAR) that day finished second in a Class 2 race at Musselburgh next time out. Today, she was made the 7/2 second favourite and finished as runner up. She led throughout the race but was one paced in the final furlong.
SATURN LACE (John Quinn) was a further 4½ lengths back in third. She had finished fourth last time out at Musselburgh, a length behind ENCANTAR. Purchased for £42,000 as a yearling, she is out of a mare who remained a maiden after eight runs. She has produced a full brother to SATURN LACE who won a maiden at 5F. Other foals have won from 6F to 10F, including a place in a Listed race at 8F, (highest winning OR of 84) and hurdles.
Dale Swift, the rider of KRYSTALLITE, reported that the filly boiled over in the preliminary stages.
Reaction from the Ryan stable to DUTCH MIST’s victory:
Dutch Mist had shown a lot of promise on debut at Nottingham, staying on late once the penny dropped and showing that she would appreciate a step up in trip to 6f. This run took a lot of people’s eye and she went into the Thirsk maiden a well backed 2-1fav. Keagan [Latham] has suffered a few near misses but the one thing you get with him is an abundance of confidence, something he exuded on board Kevin’s juvenile.
Thirsk is a very quick track and as in the past the pace was strong from the outset. Dutch Mist jumped a lot better than first time and she was quickly into stride, which was key as the leaders set a furious gallop early. Keagan was happy to tuck in from his slightly wide draw and take a lead through the early stages. Like Noah’s Ark they were two by two coming down the stands side rail and the strong gallop had some of the less fancied runners in trouble from a long way out. By halfway there was a good 12-15 lengths separating first to last, fortunately Dutch Mist was tracking every move although a couple of lengths off.
The Mark Johnston Star Focus had led from the stalls and 2 1/2f from home was pressing home her advantage. This caught the rest on their heels apart from the favourite. Keagan was just winding his mount up, keeping tabs with the leader who, although looking the stronger, was slowly beginning to get reeled in. At the 2f marker it was obvious that this was a two horse race, the only question was in which order? Keagan knew the answer. Now he got lower into his trademark position, almost out of sight behind the filly’s neck getting right behind his partner.
As Dutch Mist got closer, Keagan got a little more serious and she responded in turn. By the 1f marker Dutch Mist had now headed the long time leader, despite just edging away from the stick into the middle of track. Keagan decided not to pull his stick through as she was still going forward and he had her in good momentum. At the line they had squeezed out a 1 1/2 length advantage and were going away, scoring in decisive fashion.
Hambleton Racing, who own Dutch Mist, have had a great start to the season with their two year olds and she looks likely to give them plenty of days out. She is a filly that has always pleased Kevin and could be the type to potentially develop into a pattern filly. Whether Kevin takes that step next time will depend on the filly but she will certainly be competing in that grade sooner rather than later.
Ascot 3.05 – 6F Coventry Stakes (Group 2) Good to Firm
A preview of the race was published previously and can be read here.
FINNEGAN was declared a non runner, shortly before the race leaving seventeen runners. Twelve of the runners had already won a race (seventeen races in total between them).
BURATINO followed up his win in the Woodcote Stakes (Listed) just ten days ago with his fourth career success. Held up early, he was always travelling well and, when he made his challenge, he ran on strongly to lead just inside the final furlong in a style reminiscent of his Epsom victory. The winning distance was two lengths.
AIR FORCE BLUE finished in second. Held up in midfield he was brought to challenge and briefly led about a furlong out. However, he couldn’t match the pace of the winner close home.
ELTEZAM led for most of the race and finished a further two lengths back.
The Mark Johnston pair BEAVERBROOK and ODE TO EVENING had every chance a furlong out and finished fourth and fifth.
The Stewards noted that interference took place approaching the 3 furlong marker between QEYAADAH, DESTROYER and FIRST SELECTION as the two groups, having divided leaving the stalls, converged in the middle of the course, but after viewing a recording of the race they were satisfied that it did not involve a riding offence. Andrea Atzeni, the rider of SIR ROGER MOORE, reported that the colt ran too free. Tom Queally, the rider of WAR DEPARTMENT, reported that the colt clipped heels 3½ furlongs out.
Post race reactions
Sheikh Mohammed: ‘It is very, very good to start with this win. Buratino is a very good horse who is improving and Mark Johnston has done well. I love horses – I was born on a horse – and I love coming to Royal Ascot to see the horses here Buratino is my son Sheikh Hamdan’s horse and we will discuss with him where he wants to go.’
Mark Johnston: ‘Buratino has lived up to expectations and more, because he was beaten at Sandown and Ascot over five furlongs, and the race he won at Epsom was quite different – it looked so impressive, but until you meet other six-furlong horses you don’t know. Stepping Buratino up in trip to six furlongs has been the key, and William has now ridden him three times. He said Buratino has given him a better feel with every run. I overheard William saying to Sheikh Mohammed he wouldn’t be afraid of trying seven furlongs later in the year. That said, Buratino has a lot of speed as well. He’s been a busy horse, and was the most experienced in the field today – when you go to Royal Ascot you want experience under your belt. When he was beaten, I thought it might have been the wrong approach, but I was proved right today. People ask me if he’s improved between races, but I don’t know because he does nothing at home but eat and sleep. He hasn’t worked or galloped since the season started which is my normal approach – let’s see what they can do on the racecourse, and it’s worked out okay. He is a high-class horse – the Coventry brings together the best colts in Europe and is a very tough race to win. With any horse who wins the Coventry, you are dreaming about the Guineas the following year. Buratino is clearly mature as he won on the first day of the season but he has come on a long way since then. “I’ve known Godolphin for such a long time, over 20 years, and didn’t feel any pressure today – it’s the same people with the same owner (Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum). They made the decision to transfer to the Godolphin colours and it made no difference to me because they are the same win or lose.”
William Buick: ‘We had a pretty good run through. He is not the fastest away but he has got a great finishing kick. It was great that we got an uninterrupted run and I could ride him as I liked. It is a long last furlong here at Ascot and I would have liked to have waited a bit longer but you have to go when you’re ready and he won really well. He is one of the best two-year-olds around. Buratino is a horse that has come on for every run. Mark Johnston had him spot on and he should come on again. His experience round Epsom last time helped him a fair bit today as he was more experienced than many other runners. He is a very good two-year-old and I have no doubt that he could get seven furlongs. Let’s take everything one step at a time and see how he continues to progress. It seemed like the field was pretty strung out, so it felt like a good performance. It is huge to get a winner on the board so early. It is a big week for Sheikh Mohammed and Godolphin so it is good to get the first one out the way.’
Aidan O’Brien, trainer of Air Force Blue: ‘He was a little bit green still but we think he’s a horse to look forward to. In an ideal world we would have liked him to have had another run, it was only his second start but he’s run a fair race.’
James Millman: ‘Interesting result in the Coventry – horses which finished around HANDYTALK finished 1st/3rd/4th – such a shame he picked up a serious illness which probably explained why he didn’t progress quite as expected. Hopefully we can get him back to his best but sums up Dad’s year.’
Ascot 5.35 – 5F Windsor Castle Stakes (Listed) Good to Firm
All twenty seven runners stood their ground. Five fillies were included in the field and there were twenty previous winners who had won a total of twenty two races between them.
The American raider, RUBY NOTION set off at lightning pace and was well clear of the field. However, she was overhauled around the furlong pole and eventually finished fifth.
WASHINGTON DC (Aidan O’Brien) had finished second on debut at Dundalk before winning a maiden at Tipperary. On his most recent appearance, he finished second in the Marble Hill Stakes (Listed) at The Curragh. This race was won by ROUND TWO and BLACK BEACH who had earlier finished seventh and tenth in the Coventry Stakes. He was the first challenger to reach the runaway leader and ran on inside the final furlong and just held on to win by a head. He cost 340000 euros as a yearling and is the first foal to race from a mare who won at 5F (highest winning OR of 82) and was placed in a Listed race over the same distance.
AREEN had won on debut at York and Kevin Ryan had gone into plenty of detail about his victory and the future prospect of his colt in this article. He next appeared in the National Stakes (Listed) at Sandown, finishing sixth (BURATINO was second and STEADY PACE was third). Just about everything which could go wrong did that evening. Drawn in stall 3, he came from a fair way back to challenge with a strong run to finish second.
STEADY PACE had won his maiden on debut at Ascot beating BEAVERBROOK (fourth in the Coventry Stakes) comfortably by 2¾ lengths. It later transpired that all was not well with him after his run in the National Stakes. He finished in third today, a further ¾ length back.
It is worth bearing in mind that horses drawn high were certainly disadvantaged as RUBY NOTION set the pace over on the far rail. Some of these performances may prove to be better in the future than the bare facts suggest.
News Update
The latest update from the Racing Post’s Juvenile Judge has been published:
Love On The Rocks, Nottingham, June 3rd, 4th
There was confidence in some circles that the filly would make a winning debut, and while unable to back that up she did show plenty of promise. A bit keen early, she still held every chance in the final furlong, but showed her inexperience when becoming briefly unbalanced and rolling around when asked for an effort. She was still not beaten far and can definitely build on that outing.
Hawatif, Haydock, June 10, 4th
Given a positive ride, this filly was always posted on the outside of the leaders, but showed more than enough to think she can win a race. She travelled well for most of the race before running out of petrol but was only beaten two lengths. Mark Johnston’s juveniles continue to run well and she can add to his tally soon.
Time Warp, Kempton, June 10, 6th
For the first half of his debut, this colt was fairly clueless, and detached off the main pack, but once off the bend, he stayed on very well all the way down the straight. His pedigree strongly suggests another furlong is needed, but given how green he was, he may be able to go close over 6f for Sir Mark Prescott.
Dutch Heiress, Leicester, June 13, 4th
Another trained by Sir Mark Prescott, a slow start compromised any chance of this filly making a big impact on debut, and for the first half of the race she was green and off the pace. During the closing stages she started to get the hang of things, having drifted over to the centre of the track, and she should build on this.
Two Year Old Racing 2015 