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The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Appleby and Buick eye final step in rare sporting journey to complete Classics set
For both Charlie Appleby and William Buick, membership of one of Flat racing's most exclusive clubs will be an added incentive when Desert Flower, the 1,000 Guineas winner and favourite, canters to post before the Oaks at Epsom on Friday afternoon. Since the end of the second world war, only eight jockeys and 11 trainers have managed to get their names on the roll of honour for all five English Classics, and both lists are a roll call of racing legends. Vincent O'Brien, Sir Henry Cecil and Aidan O'Brien are among the trainers to have completed the full set, while an even shorter list of riders includes Lester Piggott, Steve Cauthen and Pat Eddery, and, since the turn of the century, only Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore. And while it is 15 years since Buick's first Classic victory, aboard Arctic Cosmos in the 2010 St Leger, Appleby could be about to complete the set in only eight. Masar, in the 2017 Derby, was the trainer's first Classic winner, Hurricane Lane took the St Leger in 2021 and the Guineas victories of Notable Speech, in 2024, and Desert Flower, at Newmarket last month, have now left him with only an Oaks winner to find. The final step of a rare sporting journey is often the most difficult to complete, however, and even Piggott, the greatest Classic jockey of them all, was forced to wait until 1970 to win the 1,000 Guineas, 16 years after his first Derby victory in 1954. Desert Flower's eight opponents on Friday will include three runners trained by the Aidan O'Brien stable that won recognised Oaks trials last time out, and Saeed bin Suroor's lightly raced Elwateen, a supplementary entry after a fine run into fourth behind Desert Flower in the 1,000 Guineas. Suroor's string has dwindled in recent seasons as Appleby has taken over as Godolphin's main trainer in Newmarket, but he is already a member of the 'All Five Classics' club. It would be quite the twist if Elwateen was the filly to leave Appleby on the doorstep. Thirsk: 1.15 In A Hurry 1.50 Latynina 2.25 Banana 3.00 Canon's House 3.40 Jeany May 4.20 Lone Piper 4.55 Commander Atkinson 5.30 Arabian Cobra Epsom: 1.30 Saqqara Sands 2.05 Havana Hurricane 2.40 Calandagan 3.15 Have Secret 4.00 Minnie Hauk (nb) 4.35 Mirsky 5.10 Alzahir Bangor: 1.40 Herja 2.15 Baskerville 2.50 Finest View 3.30 Guillaume 4.10 Al Sayah 4.40 Newmill Getaway Bath 5.15 Russian Rumour 5.45 Top Biller 6.20 Secret Santa 6.55 Far Above Dream 7.30 Sioux Warrior 8.05 Aikhal 8.40 King Of Speed Goodwood: 5.25 Platinum Prince 5.59 Alerta Maxima 6.34 Kensington Agent 7.09 Whizz By 7.44 Serenity Dream 8.19 Big Bear Hug Doncaster: 5.34 L'Eagle Aid 6.05 Regal Ulixes 6.40 Hard Endeavor 7.15 King Of Charm 7.50 Up The Pace (nap) 8.25 Mythical Phoenix 9.00 Justenzia The question mark around Desert Flower's chance is whether her stamina will extend to 12 furlongs and even her jockey will not know for certain until the business end of Friday's race. 'I do think she's very versatile,' Buick said on Thursday. 'Each time I've ridden her she has adapted to the race scenario. We could have kept her at a mile, it was put across the table as a plan, but we all felt she would get further. Whether that is a mile-and-a-quarter or a mile-and-a-half, we will see on Friday.' What does seem certain is that Desert Flower's rivals will make it a real test, and while she was a convincing winner of the Guineas her sire and dam were effective at short of 10 furlongs. With that in mind, she is very hard to back at around 7-4 and Ryan Moore's decision to ride Minnie Hauk (4.00), the Cheshire Oaks winner, could be significant. On ratings she is third-best in O'Brien's trio of runners but she was a very comfortable winner on the Roodee with the promise of improvement over an extra furlong, and she is worth an interest at around 9-2 to give O'Brien an 11th Oaks success. Epsom 1.30 Saqqara Sands's stable remains in fine form and she has the most scope for progress in this field. Epsom 2.05 Eve Johnson Houghton won this race two years ago with Bobsleigh and Havana Hurricane arrives with a similar profile. Epsom 2.40 Calandagan's first Group One win is long overdue and Francis-Henri Graffard's gelding has several pounds in hand here. Epsom 3.15 Have Secret has hit a rich vein of form this season and his mark is unchanged after another solid run last time. Epsom 4.35 David O'Meara's Mirsky can follow up from his win at Thirsk last time off a 2lb higher mark.
The Guardian
10-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Horse racing: Lingfield Classic trials, Ascot updates and more
1.15 LINGFIELD, OAKS TRIAL FILLIES' STAKES, 3YO, 1M 3F 133YD The three-runner Oaks Trial revolves around Aidan O'Brien's Giselle, who is bred in the purple – by Frankel out of Newspaperofrecord, a Breeders' Cup winner on turf as a juvenile – and looked unlucky to be denied a Group Three win behind her stable companion, Whirl, on her final start at two at the Curragh last October. She's in green colours on the outside, rather than the orange and blue she will be wearing today. Giselle She was fourth across the line and subsequently promoted to third, and it seems as certain as these things can ever be that she will be much better over middle distances this season. Giselle is already no bigger than 20-1 for the Oaks next month, will go off at around 1-4 today and anything other than a comfortable success will be seen as a disappointment. SELECTION: GISELLE Share Good afternoon from Lingfield Park in the leafy Surrey commuter belt, the latest stop on Flat racing's long and winding road through the traditional Epsom Classic trials before attention turns to Leopardstown's Derby Trial card on Sunday. Lingfield's Derby Trial, due off at 3.00, has been won by just two subsequent Epsom Classic winners this century, but Adayar, the 2021 Derby (and King George) winner finished second here, while Ambiente Friendly, an impressive winner of this trial 12 months ago, set off as the 9-2 second-favourite and was beaten only by a resurgent City Of Troy. This year's race has attracted a seven-strong field headed by two runners from Aidan O'Brien's stable – Puppet Master and Stay True - and an interesting, lightly-raced colt from Ralph Beckett's yard, Prince Of The Seas. Season-by-season, Beckett has been working his way towards the very top of the mountain in British Flat racing and he saddled two Oaks winners in six years between 2008 and 2013, but he has had just four runners in the Derby, all at double-figure odds, with Westover's third place in 2022 currently as close as he has been to winner. The Oaks Trial at 1.15, meanwhile, is all about O'Brien's runner, Giselle, the 1-4 favourite in a field of just three runners. She is already top-priced at 20-1 for the Oaks already, will set off at around 1-4 and could well be at single-figure odds if she comes up with a performance to match the pre-publicity. Elsewhere around the country today, the Victoria Cup Handicap at Ascot (2.40) will be the key race in many punters' Yankees and Lucky 15s, and while the field of 18 – down from 19 at the final declarations – will be the smallest for 20 years, the bookies were still going 6-1 the field overnight. And at Haydock, the annual mixed meeting – featuring races both on the Flat and over jumps – includes the Swinton Handicap Hurdle, a last hurrah for some useful two-mile handicap hurdlers before a well-deserved rest over the summer. With seven meetings spread around the country and nine races in all on the ITV Racing schedule – picks for which are here, along with a recap on yesterday's Chester Cup card. It is going to be a busy afternoon and you can follow the main action at Lingfield, Ascot, Haydock and elsewhere right here on the Guardian's Saturday live blog. Share
The Guardian
07-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Horse racing: Shoemark sacked by Gosdens; Chester's May meeting day one
Good morning from the Roodee, where one of Britain's most popular and historic Flat tracks will stage two significant Classic trials later today – the Chester Vase and Chester Oaks – but the early talk is all about the news that Kieran Shoemark has been sacked from his role as No 1 jockey to John & Thady Gosden's powerful Newmarket stable, just four days after steering Field Of Gold, the favourite, into a fast-finishing second place in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. John Gosden, who was hoping to complete the full set of English Classics on Saturday by winning the 2,000 Guineas for the first time, seemed fairly philosophical in the immediate aftermath. 'We were sitting some way back and quite frankly, the winner has kicked and gone and we have run out of racetrack,' he said. 'In another probably 25 yards the race would have been ours. You know when this track gets firm like this, it rides slick and with a bit of cross tailwind, they can just get away from you. It just got away from us today I am afraid, as we came into the Dip. He was clawing the ground back but it was too late.' On further reflection, though, the trainer seems to have decided that enough blame attaches to Shoemark to merit a change of stable jockey (although, as the trainer has often pointed out too, several owners in the yard already have retained riders of their own). Ruling Court ridden by William Buick (white cap) on their way to winning the Betfred 2,000 Guineas with Kieran Shoemark on Field Of Gold (right) in second. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA The ultimate sanction for Shoemark does feel a little harsh in the circumstances. William Buick, on the winner, Ruling Court, got first run on Field Of Gold, but his draw, one stall outside the runner-up, had allowed him to take a slightly more prominent position within a furlong of the start. Shoemark did not do too much wrong but Buick, with his much great wealth of big-race experience, did everything right, from a better position in the early stages. Shoemark – somewhat oddly, perhaps, given the news – is still expected to ride the stable's two runners, Queen Of Thieves (2.35) and Marnier (4.10) at Chester today, with Gosden expected to use 'the best available' from now on when an owner does not have a retained jockey. Elsewhere on the card, the eight-runner Chester Vase includes four Derby entries – Lambourn, Lazy Griff, Pinhole and Thrice – while the action is under way at 1.30pm with the Lily Agnes Stakes, where Karl Burke's Ali Shuffle, in stall one, has been backed down to odds-on favouritism. Share
