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Desert Flower seals Guineas double for Godolphin

Desert Flower seals Guineas double for Godolphin

BBC News04-05-2025

Desert Flower won the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket to complete a dream weekend for owners Godolphin.Jockey William Buick, claiming his first victory in the Fillies' Classic, rode Charlie Appleby's evens favourite to victory from the Ollie Sangster pair of Flight and Simmering.It was a fifth successive win for the unbeaten Desert Flower and followed Ruling Court's 2,000 Guineas victory on Saturday for Buick and trainer Appleby.Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin team also won the Kentucky Oaks with Good Cheer and the Kentucky Derby with Sovereignty.
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Epsom Derby 2025 runners and riders: Start time and full list of horses
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Epsom Derby 2025 runners and riders: Start time and full list of horses

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Appleby retains full faith in Oaks third Desert Flower
Appleby retains full faith in Oaks third Desert Flower

Powys County Times

time19 hours ago

  • Powys County Times

Appleby retains full faith in Oaks third Desert Flower

Charlie Appleby had few complaints after big-race favourite Desert Flower failed to bloom in the Betfred Oaks. Many felt the 1000 Guineas heroine was unopposable in her quest for a Classic double and as such she was sent off the heavily-backed 11-10 favourite in the hands of William Buick. However, the challenge of Epsom on rain-softened ground ultimately proved too much for the daughter of Night Of Thunder as she surrendered her unbeaten record in her first try at a mile and a half. Appleby said: 'It just looked like she got a bit unbalanced coming down the hill and hit a bit of a flat spot just at the point you don't want to, but take nothing away from the first two as they just kept galloping. 'I wasn't worried about the ground, but William (Buick, jockey) has got off there and just felt travelling round early doors before we even got into the race that she would be more comfortable on a sounder surface. 'She stayed, but she hasn't got a kick at this distance and kick is what the first two have done and William said he wouldn't mind bringing her back to a mile and a quarter. 'Even if we had got to them, they looked like they would have kicked again and they were both finding at the business end whereas all we were doing was galloping.' Although Buick, Appleby's stable jockey, suggested coming back in trip, the Moulton Paddocks handler was more guarded in his assessment, mooting a trip to the Knavesmire for the Yorkshire Oaks. Appleby added: 'I'll let the dust settle as always but I would like to see her, just because of the size of her, on a more conventional track. 'The jury is out on the trip and I think we're all happy to say she got the trip and personally I would like to see her in the Yorkshire Oaks – a nice, galloping track like that will suit her. 'We'll give her a break now and although she won on slower ground in the Fillies' Mile, slower ground on a track like this, that might have to be taken into consideration. She's a big, galloping filly and I would say getting her on a conventional track would be more her gig. 'It's not a bad result and she's finished third in a Classic, but we'll regroup and go again.' Desert Flower stayed on in the closing stages to deny Joseph O'Brien's Wemightakedlongway of third place, with the Owning Hill handler looking forward to the rest of the season with the Salsabil Stakes scorer. 'It was a great run and we thought we would nick third for a lot of the way, but she's a super exciting filly for the future,' said O'Brien. 'I think we'll keep her at this trip or even 10 furlongs, any races over those distances will suit her.'

Appleby offers note of caution ahead of Ruling Court's Derby bid
Appleby offers note of caution ahead of Ruling Court's Derby bid

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time19 hours ago

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Appleby offers note of caution ahead of Ruling Court's Derby bid

Perhaps unsurprisingly given one is run over a straight mile and the second takes place over a turning mile and a half, few horses have landed the first two Classics of the British season, with only three managing to do so since the great Nijinsky completed the Triple Crown 45 years ago. Nashwan claimed Guineas and Derby glory in 1989, but it took a horse as brilliant as Sea The Stars two decades later to repeat the feat before Camelot did the same in 2012, after which he came up narrowly short in his Triple Crown quest in the St Leger. Appleby, who has trained two previous Derby winners in Masar (2018) and Adayar (2021), is hoping Ruling Court can etch his name into the history books, but said at Epsom on Friday: 'We're just on weather watch. There's not as much rain around – we were forecast showers this afternoon and it's been a lovely, drying day. 'We know what this track can do in these conditions, the horse is in great form and I'm looking forward to him running, (but) I will just highlight that if all of a sudden we get a deluge (of rain) and the ground becomes very testing, then conversations will have to be had during the build-up to the race over whether we participate or not. 'So there is a warning out there, but I think we'll be OK. It looks as though the weather has broken up a bit and the forecast tonight doesn't look as though it's going to be quite as severe as it was first forecast to be.' Like Masar, Ruling Court will be ridden by William Buick, who said: 'He's not too dissimilar from Masar. They have completely different pedigrees, but Masar was a good third in the Guineas and again went to Epsom having not run beyond a mile. They are not similar horses but have not too dissimilar profiles. 'Masar winning the Derby was the highlight of my career. I'd ridden in it enough before and been placed before and I thought I'd know how it would feel to win it, but it was an amazing day.' On whether his mount could be a Triple Crown contender, he added: 'I got asked about it before the Guineas and there were still three races to go! 'Ruling Court is heading into the most important race now. I'll answer the question after Saturday as I don't think I can answer it in a sensible way right now.' The biggest threat to Ruling Court appears to be Aidan O'Brien, who has saddled a record 10 Derby winners, including the last two and eight in the last 13 years. His chief hope this weekend appears to be Delacroix, who has impressed in winning the Ballysax Stakes and the Derby Trial at Leopardstown this spring and is the chosen mount of Ryan Moore. 'Everything has gone well with him, he's won his two trials and we always thought of him last year as a potential Derby horse,' said O'Brien. 'We've been very happy with both of his runs. We found out that he gets a strongly-run mile and a quarter and there's every chance that he will get a mile and a half. 'He has form on all types of ground and he's a big, powerful horse. We feel he has gone the right way every week really.' At the start of the year Delacroix's stablemate The Lion In Winter was at the head of ante-post lists for the Derby, but an interrupted spring campaign and defeat in the Dante at York have dented his reputation. 'He'd only the two runs as a two-year-old, winning his maiden at the Curragh and then winning the Acomb at York. The Acomb is over seven furlongs on a quick track and you're never sure, but we always thought that there was a strong possibility that he could (be a Derby horse),' O'Brien added. 'He's a good traveller, that's what he did in the Acomb and the Dante. I think Ryan was very happy with the way he travelled in the Dante, he travelled down the straight well and as he was getting ready to have a go he just got a little bit chopped and with a horse needing the run as badly as he did, that would be a big disadvantage to him. 'Everything has gone well since York and we couldn't have asked any more from him really.' The Ballydoyle handler's trio is completed by Chester Vase winner Lambourn, of whom he said: 'He had a lovely run first time and then he ran a lovely race in Chester. There's no doubt he looks like a horse that will stay further, he's straightforward and obviously he got the trip in Chester well. 'You couldn't be happier with him at Chester as we knew it would be plenty sharp enough for him, but he still coped with it and we're looking forward to seeing him run again.'

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