Newmarket really has treated us to some great action this weekend with some really good, competitive racing and I thought I'd have a look back at the weekend that was, starting with the Sunday's fare. This saw Miss France take the 1000 Guineas for French trainer Andre Fabre, tipped up in the ante-post piece on this site for the race! In a really competitive renewal the first three home were separated by a neck and half a length, with Tapestry, for whom the money came late, a real disappointment. Ollie Stevens can be really proud of his filly Lightening Thunder who came late and hard to grab 2nd place, in a few more yards she could have been the winner, and Ihtimal ran a really good race to finish 3rd. This was a great effort from a filly whom I think will definitely be better over further and was cut in the betting for the Oaks, now around a 16/1 shot. However the race belonged to Miss France who put her disappointing run in her seasonal reappearance well behind her as under Maxime Guyon she got to the front around 1f out and never looked back. Her trainer also thinks she will get further and I believe she is set to step up in trip on her next start, I wonder whether Fabre will be really ambitious and target the fillies triple crown?!? I hope so, it would make for a really exciting sub-plot to the English Classic season, but I think she is set to go for the Prix de Diane next back in France so we will have to see how she gets on there first. Fabre did rule the Oaks out in the immediate aftermath of the race but I still harbour faint hope he might be tempted! Both the winner and the 2nd home hold entries in the Coronation stakes so that may be the place for a re-match and I don't thing Lightening Thunder or Miss France will be allowed to go off at such generous prices for that race!
Another horse in action on Sunday doing her Oaks credentials no hard at all was the John Gosden trained Taghrooda who was really impressive in the Pretty Polly stakes over 1m 2f. Now as short as 3/1 for the Oaks she certainly impressed over the Newmarket circuit, winning easily and from trainer quotes post race the Oaks is certainly the target for this filly. It doesn't look like Gosden will be using a prep race, instead preferring to take Taghrooda for a solo spin round the Epsom undulations, but the master trainer knows what he is doing and both he and jockey Paul Hanagan were positive regarding her Oaks chances post-race.
On Saturday we saw a fascinating 2000 Guineas, with a shock winner in the Richard Hannon trained, Kieron Fallon ridden Night of Thunder. That marked Fallon's 6th victory in the Guineas, such an impressive record and it shows that despite his age he is still one of the top jockeys out there. The form of this race looks rock solid, with Kingman coming 2nd and Australia 3rd, and it looks like the Irish Guineas may provide us with a chance to see the first two home clash once again while the 3rd home looks Derby bound. Night of Thunder hung halfway across the track in winning the race so you could say without that he would have won by further, I certainly do not think there is any fluke about this result. Toormore was a big disappointment for me, Hannon saying he just ran flat, but I do think post-race that he may not have quite the required class to compete right at the top level.
One horse that certainly has all the class to compete right at the top is Sole Power who won the Palace House stakes in a really taking fashion. Ryan Moore didn't get the clearest of runs aboard the favourite but once he had some clear air in front of him there was no doubt as to which horse would win the race and Sole Power put the race to bed in decisive fashion. On quick ground he is one of the best sprinters out there and I wouldn't be keen to oppose him if he attempts to win the Temple Stakes title at Haydock in the near future, and quotes of 7/1 for the Kings Stand stakes at Ascot could look big if we get fast ground on the day. He may not be that great an ante-post proposition as he is really ground dependant but it will be some sight if this speedball lines up at Ascot at the Royal meeting.
We've got more great flat action hot on the heels of this meet, with Chester's May Festival kicking off on Wednesday, we really are treated at this time of year! Thanks very much for reading this and have a great rest of the Bank Holiday weekend.
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