Cheshire Dancer surprises in Valiant Stakes
Cheshire Dancer travelled in last as her rivals contested the lead, but then began to make progress on the outside in the final two furlongs before grabbing a narrow victory from Ed Walker's American Gal on the line.
Palmer, who had struck in the preceding Princess Margaret Stakes with Fitzella, said: 'It's been a great hour, when we got done on the line in the first at Chester I didn't think it would be our day, so this is magical really.
'I said to the owners when she was third at Ascot during the Royal meeting that we would go back for the Valiant and she has since run massive when second in the Pipalong Stakes at Pontefract.
'Sometimes when these fillies find a rich vein of form and grow in confidence they improve and it's difficult to put your finger on how or why, but she's found that magical moment today.
'I was slightly nervous during the race, it wasn't the plan to sit last but they went an even enough gallop and she was really tough.
'She's been in the yard for three years and holds a real soft spot in all our hearts and it's lovely to see the success for everyone who puts so much into her.
'She went up to 86 after the run on the straight track here during the Royal meeting and now after two runs over a turning mile she's going to be up to a 100.
'She failed the vet for America after she finished third in the Kensington Palace. We had accepted an offer for her but that was probably for considerably less than she is now worth now, so it's funny how it goes.'
He added: 'Winning these races are important for all trainers, but what we're really keen to get across to people is despite the fact I may have left Newmarket and moved to Cheshire, we're still doing the same job and winning Group races and people can with confidence send us well-bred horses and home breds.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
'Fantastic' Porthcawl could host Women's Open again
R&A chief executive Mark Darbon says Royal Porthcawl will be considered to host another Women's Open after holding a "fantastic" competition over the Yamashita won the event in south Wales, holding off the challenge of England's Charley Hull and Japanese compatriot Minami Katsu to finish two shots despite impressing with its infrastructure and facilities - and attracting more than 47,000 spectators - Darbon says the links course is not currently in the running to host the men's Open Championship."We have had fantastic feedback on the golf course and the player set-up and facilities more broadly," said Darbon, who added that crowd numbers were "above expectations". "This is a wonderful links golf course, a real test, and they played it in some tricky conditions through the week."This is a great venue. At the AIG Women's Open we are really focused on giving these wonderful athletes a stage [on which] to perform and that requires fantastic venues."We are very proud of that pool of venues and this has been a great week on that front."We think venue choice is really critical and we have had a great week here, so I certainly think it could be considered for the future."We have named venues for the next couple of years and we'll continue to assess things, but this is an important venue for the R&A." Darbon praised the working relationship with the town, golf club and government bodies."I think this is the largest women's sporting event ever in Wales and that's something we are incredibly proud of," he said."Venues are really important to us. This is not the first R&A championship hosted here. We have had senior Opens and some of our significant amateur championships here. So it's a venue that is very much in our thinking."But while Royal Porthcawl has hit the mark for women's, seniors' and amateur golf events, it faces fierce competition to even be part of the conversation to host the men's blue riband Open Championship."Look, it's not being considered at the moment," Darbon admitted."We are very happy with the pool of venues we have got for the Open Championship, in no small part because of the scale of infrastructure that's required these days to stage a modern Open Championship."We are looking at one incremental venue maybe as part of that pool of options and that's over at Portmarnock [in the Republic of Ireland], but largely we are really happy with the venues we have."We love coming here with our championships, but the scale of the modern Open I think presents a challenge for the men's competition."
Powys County Times
3 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Isle Of Jura pencilled in for September Stakes return
George Scott has earmarked Kempton's Unibet September Stakes for Isle Of Jura's long-awaited comeback, with his stable star pleasing the Newmarket handler since returning to work. A stand-out performer for the Eve Lodge team, he is unbeaten in his last five after building on his money-spinning success in Bahrain back on home soil, but he has been on the sidelines since registering a memorable victory in last year's Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot. However, anticipation is now building that the long road to recovery is coming to an end, with Scott optimistic the five-year-old will be ready for action on the Sunbury all-weather on September 6. A first Royal @Ascot winner for @CallumSheppy! Isle Of Jura wins the Hardwicke Stakes! — At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 22, 2024 Scott said: 'He's great and back in fast work and I think we can slightly begin to dream he will be back again as he's taken some very significant steps forwards and is in great shape. His issue is handling great and it is really exciting. 'He's going to go to the September Stakes, that will be his race and fits well with my plan to go for the Bahrain International. 'At least now we can be optimistic and start to make these plans and look forward to getting him back. We've jumped a lot of hurdles now and it would just be very unlucky if we didn't see him in the September Stakes, he's really doing well. 'He will have been off the track for a long time by the time we get to the September Stakes so in my head I will be thinking anything there is a bonus, but he's a special racehorse to us.' If all goes to plan for the Victorious Racing-owned Isle Of Jura in his Kempton return, then he will swiftly be on his travels in search of further riches in the Middle East, with Scott planning an ambitious winter programme. Scott added: 'He'll spend his winter abroad and I imagine he will go to Bahrain and then move onto something like the Jebel Hatta (Meydan) and the Neom Turf Cup (Riyadh) and then back to Dubai for World Cup night, but that is a long way off. 'There's unbelievable money in these races abroad and he loves fast ground and flat tracks so it just makes perfect sense.'
South Wales Guardian
4 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Isle Of Jura pencilled in for September Stakes return
A stand-out performer for the Eve Lodge team, he is unbeaten in his last five after building on his money-spinning success in Bahrain back on home soil, but he has been on the sidelines since registering a memorable victory in last year's Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot. However, anticipation is now building that the long road to recovery is coming to an end, with Scott optimistic the five-year-old will be ready for action on the Sunbury all-weather on September 6. A first Royal @Ascot winner for @CallumSheppy! Isle Of Jura wins the Hardwicke Stakes! — At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 22, 2024 Scott said: 'He's great and back in fast work and I think we can slightly begin to dream he will be back again as he's taken some very significant steps forwards and is in great shape. His issue is handling great and it is really exciting. 'He's going to go to the September Stakes, that will be his race and fits well with my plan to go for the Bahrain International. 'At least now we can be optimistic and start to make these plans and look forward to getting him back. We've jumped a lot of hurdles now and it would just be very unlucky if we didn't see him in the September Stakes, he's really doing well. 'He will have been off the track for a long time by the time we get to the September Stakes so in my head I will be thinking anything there is a bonus, but he's a special racehorse to us.' If all goes to plan for the Victorious Racing-owned Isle Of Jura in his Kempton return, then he will swiftly be on his travels in search of further riches in the Middle East, with Scott planning an ambitious winter programme. Scott added: 'He'll spend his winter abroad and I imagine he will go to Bahrain and then move onto something like the Jebel Hatta (Meydan) and the Neom Turf Cup (Riyadh) and then back to Dubai for World Cup night, but that is a long way off. 'There's unbelievable money in these races abroad and he loves fast ground and flat tracks so it just makes perfect sense.'
