Appleby ‘on the fence' about Shadow Of Light plans
The son of Lope De Vega thrived as a juvenile and claimed top honours when winning both the Middle Park and Dewhurst on the Rowley Mile last autumn.
He was only a length adrift of stablemate Ruling Court in the opening Classic of 2025 but having shown plenty of speed throughout his career, it could be his future is back down in trip, with the colt the general favourite for the six-furlong Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.
However, the Moulton Paddocks handler is still to decide in which direction to head at the Royal meeting, with the weekend's Curragh Classic set to prove a handy gauge for Shadow Of Light's connections.
'I'm going to sit on the fence with him, but I'm still quietly confident he'll get the mile,' explained Appleby.
'It's hard to assess and if you go through the speed figures and everything else that went on in the Guineas, it wasn't an end-to-end gallop by any stretch of the imagination. So it was hard to say he gets a mile for certain on the back of that.
'I think we'll just watch the Irish Guineas and see what develops there. I think whatever wins the Irish Guineas will naturally become favourite for the St James's Palace and then we can work out how close we were to them.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
12 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
German Derby winner Palladium in action at Goodwood
The four-year-old was purchased for €1,400,000 by Lady Bamford following his Classic-winning exploits on the continent and joined Nicky Henderson, where he made one winning appearance over timber at Huntingdon before an injury ruled him out of a Cheltenham Festival bid. However, the Seven Barrows handler always had designs on returning to the level with Palladium and having swapped Lambourn for Newmarket to join John and Thady Gosden, the Clarehaven team will get their first look at the talented son of Gleneagles on the racecourse in the Listed BetGoodwin Tapster Stakes. Thady Gosden said: 'He won the German Derby and then he had a stint over the sticks, but it's great to have him back on the Flat as he was a Classic-winning three-year-old in Germany. 'Goodwood over a mile and half is a great place to start him off for the season. We'll see how he runs on Sunday and then we'll be able to make a plan for the season from there.' Palladium will be ridden by James Doyle, who added: 'I think they're due a bit of rain down at Goodwood so if that is on the easy side you would think would suit and it's a nice spare ride to pick up. 'It's always nice to ride for John and Thady and of course Lady Bamford and it's very kind of them to leg me up.' Palladium will face a total of five rivals including former Henderson stablemate Galashiels and new Gosden stablemate Military Academy. Karl Burke's Bolster, William Haggas' soft ground-loving Hamish and David Simcock's Raja Raja are also among the opposition. There is also Listed action on the card in the Weatherbys / British EBF Agnes Keyser Fillies' Stakes where a field of 12 head to post.
Powys County Times
14 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
German Derby winner Palladium in action at Goodwood
The four-year-old was purchased for €1,400,000 by Lady Bamford following his Classic-winning exploits on the continent and joined Nicky Henderson, where he made one winning appearance over timber at Huntingdon before an injury ruled him out of a Cheltenham Festival bid. However, the Seven Barrows handler always had designs on returning to the level with Palladium and having swapped Lambourn for Newmarket to join John and Thady Gosden, the Clarehaven team will get their first look at the talented son of Gleneagles on the racecourse in the Listed BetGoodwin Tapster Stakes. Thady Gosden said: 'He won the German Derby and then he had a stint over the sticks, but it's great to have him back on the Flat as he was a Classic-winning three-year-old in Germany. 'Goodwood over a mile and half is a great place to start him off for the season. We'll see how he runs on Sunday and then we'll be able to make a plan for the season from there.' Palladium will be ridden by James Doyle, who added: 'I think they're due a bit of rain down at Goodwood so if that is on the easy side you would think would suit and it's a nice spare ride to pick up. 'It's always nice to ride for John and Thady and of course Lady Bamford and it's very kind of them to leg me up.' Palladium will face a total of five rivals including former Henderson stablemate Galashiels and new Gosden stablemate Military Academy. Karl Burke's Bolster, William Haggas' soft ground-loving Hamish and David Simcock's Raja Raja are also among the opposition. There is also Listed action on the card in the Weatherbys / British EBF Agnes Keyser Fillies' Stakes where a field of 12 head to post.
South Wales Guardian
25 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Jan Brueghel holds off Calandagan in Coronation Cup thriller
Unbeaten when winning the world's oldest Classic at Doncaster, he had been aimed at the Melbourne Cup later that year but was ruled out by the local vets and was then beaten on his return to action this spring in a Group Three. Like so many O'Brien horses he improved enormously from his first run to his second and while the patiently-ridden Calandagan looked like gaining the upper hand more than once, the 8-13 favourite could never get in front and went down by half a length. O'Brien said of the 100-30 winner: 'He's a very tough horse and Ryan (Moore) gave him a class ride. He doesn't surrender. 'He improved a lot from the last day and he was still pricking his ears.' WHAT A BATTLE 🔥 Calandagan drew upsides but was unable to pass the determined Jan Brueghel who plunders the Group 1 Betfred Coronation Cup for Ryan Moore 💥 Is there any stopping team Ballydoyle ⁉️#PremierRaceday — Great British Racing (@GBRacing) June 6, 2025 He went on: 'He was unbeaten last year and he was the biggest penalty kick ever in the Melbourne Cup, but didn't get to run. 'Ryan has given him an incredible ride and got him balanced and into a lovely rhythm. They started to race from a long way out, but it was incredible in the straight how he carried on. 'Everyone knew it was going to be a good gallop and Wayne Lordan (on Continuous) was there to ensure it was a good gallop, all everyone wanted was a solidly-run race and Ryan felt they were going fast enough for him. 'I thought Wayne was excellent at setting the pace and everyone was happy to get a lead off Wayne and when you get a race run at a suitable pace you know what distance you can go next or what not to. This way everyone learns. 'At Group One level he is a mile-and-a-half-plus horse and he's a very tough horse who would still be unbeaten if I hadn't run him at the Curragh. 'It's was a lovely run first time back and it was only over a mile and a quarter and he was beaten by a good horse of Joseph's (O'Brien, Galen). It was a bit unfair what I did pitching him in over that trip, but I needed to get him out early. 'He's a very brave horse and if you pass him slowly you're in trouble.' This race was originally slated for Illinois prior to the shuffling of the Ballydoyle pack following Kyprios' retirement and O'Brien added: 'Everyone was standing in line behind Kyprios and he was always going to get first preference and there would be no move made on anything if he was going to Gold Cup. 'When he was retired Illinois was put in there and this fella came into Illinois' position. He was going to go for a Group One in Longchamp but then slotted in here.' Moore said: 'He's only been beaten once and he's a very good horse. He's a Classic winner and still improving and we're still learning. Hopefully we'll keep learning about him. 'He was headed there and battled back, but he's a tough horse.'
