Estrange steps up for Lester Piggott challenge
David O'Meara's daughter of Night Of Thunder finished her three-year-old campaign by securing Listed honours at Doncaster and while connections are hesitant about conditions on Merseyside, they have decided now is the time to roll the dice in Group-race company.
'We've been hoping for a bit of easy ground for her and the forecast is not ideal, but I think we'll probably let her take her chance over a mile and a half,' said Chris Richardson, managing director of owners Cheveley Park Stud.
Two wins from three runs! Estrange weaves through the field to victory in the Listed Gillies Fillies' Stakes for @the_doyler and @omeararacing at @DoncasterRaces… pic.twitter.com/9Yu0tqrnw8
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) November 9, 2024
'The ground is drying, but it's a good starting place and we can plot from there and try to find some easy ground throughout the summer.
'Her pedigree suggests she'll stay, ideally we might have liked to start her over a mile and a quarter but we've got to go where the rain is, so this is a race that slots in quite nicely.'
Estrange holds a couple of Group One entries later in the year, with her team optimistic she could reach that lofty level in due course.
Richardson added: 'David is quite comfortable with trying a mile and a half and if we're right, the entry in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, which was hopeful rather than anything else, might come to fruition.
'Things just didn't go her way at Yarmouth and I blame myself for running her on that ground, but the form is rock solid and it was nice to see her run so positively at the back end of last year.'
Shaha is an improving filly (Adam Morgan/PA)
John and Thady Gosden claimed this contest with Queen Of The Pride 12 months ago and will attempt to repeat the dose with impressive Goodwood scorer Shaha, who like Estrange is lightly raced and taking her first leap into deeper waters.
'She's a filly we've always liked and has always had plenty of size and scope about her,' said Thady Gosden.
'She's really matured well from three to four and the Thoroughbred Corporation bought her as a filly to run in nice races as both a three- and four-year-old.
'To win on just her second start in Listed company was great considering she is still a pretty inexperienced filly and she picked up nicely and showed a good turn of foot that day. You would like to think stepping up now to Group Three company will be no problem for her.'
William Haggas will saddle Chorus in a race named after his late father-in-law and a contest he has won three times in the last six years.
Jasour makes his comeback at Haydock (Adam Davy/PA)
There is quality action for the sprinters in the Betfred 'The Classic Bookmaker' Achilles Stakes, which sees Richard Hughes in search of some kind underfoot conditions for No Half Measures and Karl Burke's Royal Ascot winner Leovanni make her seasonal bow.
Also returning to the track is Clive Cox's Jasour, who seeks to tee-up a trip to the Royal meeting a week later than planned in this five-furlong Listed event.
'He was meant to run last Saturday but had a bruised foot which we've had to deal with,' said Cox.
'It's a five-furlong contest and I would have preferred to have run him over six, but having missed last Saturday this was the only option available before Royal Ascot and hopefully it will tee him up nicely.
'Like all sprinters, it's nice to get a run under their belt and we're looking forward to it.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Glasgow Times
3 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Beckett wary of Oaks stamina test for Revoir
It is 17 years since Beckett broke his Classic duck in the Epsom feature with Look Here, who like his latest challenger carried the colours of owner-breeder Julian Richmond-Watson. The trainer doubled his Oaks tally with Talent in 2013 and is out to make it a hat-trick with a filly who impressed on her juvenile debut at Nottingham in the autumn, before being touched off by the reopposing Qilin Queen on her reappearance in a Listed contest at Newbury last month. Beckett said: 'I think she should come forward for the run at Newbury. I felt it was a good starting point, but she was still pretty green through the race. I liked the way she went through the line. 'You would think the step up in trip will probably be in her favour. There are stamina influences on her page, but I have slight reservations in the fact that Regardez (her dam) didn't stay a mile and a half, she got a mile and a quarter well. 'This filly is a slightly different character and is more laid-back than her mother was, but we are taking it on trust. 'Look Here winning the Oaks when we were at Whitsbury is a big part of what is going on here now. It's been 17 years and it's been a big joy to train the family – it's been a privilege. 'Julian and Sarah (Richmond-Watson) are exceptional breeders, they've never had more than six broodmares and to come up with not just Look Here but Remarquee, Scope and Kinross in the space of 15 years from six mares is extraordinary. Hopefully this filly is the next cab off the rank.' One Beckett-trained filly who has already proven her worth at the highest level is You Got To Me, who placed fourth in last year's Oaks before striking gold in the Irish equivalent and makes her first start as a four-year-old in the Betfred-sponsored Coronation Cup on the Oaks card. The daughter of Nathaniel, who will carry the Amo Racing silks for the first time, has been off the track since finishing last of seven in the St Leger at Doncaster in September. 'She's not much different different now, she's filled out (over the winter). She was always a big girl and in that sense not much has changed,' said Beckett, speaking on a Zoom call hosted by the Jockey Club on Thursday. 'This looked a good starting place for her. It looks a deep renewal and she'll have to go a bit, but she's been away for gallops a couple of times this spring and they've gone well, so I couldn't be happier. 'She's been off since the St Leger so that is nine months. Inevitably she'll need the match practice, but this leads us into the year. 'I had intended to start her in the Lancashire Oak, so this is a month earlier than we imagined.' On plans beyond her Epsom comeback, Beckett said: 'I'd like to get her in against her own sex at some point. The Yorkshire Oaks is the obvious one but France Galop, in their wisdom, moved the Prix Vermeille so there is only 17 days between the only two fillies' only Group Ones over a mile and a half in Europe, which makes life somewhat complicated. Those two races are high on her agenda.'
Leader Live
4 hours ago
- Leader Live
Becket wary of Oaks stamina test for Revoir
It is 17 years since Beckett broke his Classic duck in the Epsom feature with Look Here, who like his latest challenger carried the colours of owner-breeder Julian Richmond-Watson. The trainer doubled his Oaks tally with Talent in 2013 and is out to make it a hat-trick with a filly who impressed on her juvenile debut at Nottingham in the autumn, before being touched off by the reopposing Qilin Queen on her reappearance in a Listed contest at Newbury last month. Beckett said: 'I think she should come forward for the run at Newbury. I felt it was a good starting point, but she was still pretty green through the race. I liked the way she went through the line. 'You would think the step up in trip will probably be in her favour. There are stamina influences on her page, but I have slight reservations in the fact that Regardez (her dam) didn't stay a mile and a half, she got a mile and a quarter well. 'This filly is a slightly different character and is more laid-back than her mother was, but we are taking it on trust. 'Look Here winning the Oaks when we were at Whitsbury is a big part of what is going on here now. It's been 17 years and it's been a big joy to train the family – it's been a privilege. 'Julian and Sarah (Richmond-Watson) are exceptional breeders, they've never had more than six broodmares and to come up with not just Look Here but Remarquee, Scope and Kinross in the space of 15 years from six mares is extraordinary. Hopefully this filly is the next cab off the rank.' One Beckett-trained filly who has already proven her worth at the highest level is You Got To Me, who placed fourth in last year's Oaks before striking gold in the Irish equivalent and makes her first start as a four-year-old in the Betfred-sponsored Coronation Cup on the Oaks card. The daughter of Nathaniel, who will carry the Amo Racing silks for the first time, has been off the track since finishing last of seven in the St Leger at Doncaster in September. 'She's not much different different now, she's filled out (over the winter). She was always a big girl and in that sense not much has changed,' said Beckett, speaking on a Zoom call hosted by the Jockey Club on Thursday. 'This looked a good starting place for her. It looks a deep renewal and she'll have to go a bit, but she's been away for gallops a couple of times this spring and they've gone well, so I couldn't be happier. 'She's been off since the St Leger so that is nine months. Inevitably she'll need the match practice, but this leads us into the year. 'I had intended to start her in the Lancashire Oak, so this is a month earlier than we imagined.' On plans beyond her Epsom comeback, Beckett said: 'I'd like to get her in against her own sex at some point. The Yorkshire Oaks is the obvious one but France Galop, in their wisdom, moved the Prix Vermeille so there is only 17 days between the only two fillies' only Group Ones over a mile and a half in Europe, which makes life somewhat complicated. Those two races are high on her agenda.'
North Wales Chronicle
4 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Thirty years on and Bin Suroor will never forget Lammtarra
Saeed bin Suroor had not held a licence for long when he saddled the chestnut on that first Saturday in June. In fact, he did not even train Lammtarra when the flashy colt made a winning debut in a Listed race in August 1994, his only run at two. That honour went to Alex Scott, who was tragically shot dead by a groom at his stud in Newmarket just a month later. Lammtarra was transferred to the care of the little known at the time Bin Suroor and the rest, as they say, is history. In a classy renewal, Walter Swinburn delivered his inexperienced partner late to deny Tamure and a certain Frankie Dettori, who would go on to have a long and successful partnership with Bin Suroor. The history of the Turf is long and illustrious. But there have been few careers like that of Lammtarra. In just four lifetime starts he won the Derby, the King George and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the three most prestigious mile-and-a-half races in Europe. Bin Suroor has since been champion trainer four times and trained 12 further Classic winners – but he knows he owes a massive debt to Lammtarra. His string is much smaller these days, but he proved when Mawj won the 1000 Guineas just two years ago that given the right ammunition he is still capable of winning the biggest races. He had runners in both the 1000 and 2000 Guineas this year, in Elwateen and Tornado Alert respectively, and both outran their big odds to finish fourth. Tornado Alert now tries to win him a second Derby. 'It is 30 years since Lammtarra which seems a long time, it would be great to win it again, it's the biggest race so it makes me want to win it more,' said Bin Suroor. 'The reason it is so special is because it is very hard to win, only one horse can win it every year. 'I remember Lammtarra well. We got him at the end of his two-year-old season and we obviously knew he was good as he won a Listed race on his debut. 'We took him out to Dubai to train and he was working very well. He was not a big horse, he was quite small, but he had a big engine with a big heart and a good turn of foot. 'He used to work with all our good horses and I never saw him lose a gallop.' Of course one of the quirks of the racing and breeding industries is the more successful a colt is on the track at three, the less chance there is of them racing on at four as they become so valuable, and that was the case with Lammtarra. 'Once he had won the Derby we felt we only wanted him to run in the biggest races,' Bin Suroor went on. 'We took him to the King George and the Arc, the toughest races, but every time he held his form. 'He was a rare horse because what he showed you in the morning he also showed you on the track, they don't always. He was so special.' Bin Suroor went on to train Dubai Millennium, who failed to stay when tried in the 1999 Derby won by Oath. But that was his only defeat in 10 races, being at his best over a mile and 10 furlongs. 'Lammtarra was the best I trained over a mile and a half. Dubai Millennium didn't stay in the Derby, but we had to try. Over 10 furlongs Dubai Millennium would have been the best,' he said. 'To win the Derby, the King George and the Arc, the three biggest mile-and-a-half races tells you he was the best at that distance – on any ground, too, as he won the Derby on fast ground and the Arc on heavy. 'I owe him a lot, he came early in my career and achieved so much. 'The Derby is the best race in the world, it is so hard to win, for me to win it not long after starting meant so much. The winner is the best and to win it is very special for the horse, the owner and the trainer. 'I would love to win a Derby for Sheikh Mohammed and Godolphin now.'
