It’s true, some people gauge their summer on the lengths of
the Windsor evening meetings that are held. If that true, summer ended for them
this Monday evening as the conclusion of the Berkshire racecourses twilight
meetings came to an end with six races, one of them a type two race and final
of the six-furlong sprint championships.
The main race of the evening, the Skybet Windsor sprint
series finale saw fourteen runners go to post, all runners qualifying with a
run in any of the series races held at each of the meetings held at Windsor
throughout the year.
Michael Blanshard’s Stellarta a five-year-old with thirty
five runs under her belt, seven of those with trips to the winners enclosure,
took her chances from a furlong out, ridden by the top young jockey of Tom Marquand and duly held on
well to beat John Jenkins’s Pretty
Bubbles by three lengths.
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| Stellarta |
The mare by Sakhee’s Secret looked a game sort, and was
greeted with great enthusiasm by its connections as she entered the enclosures.
‘She is such a consistent sort of horse,’ mentioned the trainer in his thirty
sixth year of training. ‘She is a type that does not come along too often,
seven wins, twenty four times not out of the first four, she makes a big
difference to the yard.’ The owner Vincent Ward ever too eager to sing lyric
about the trainer’s abilities.
And last season’s champion apprentice ever too
grateful of a big race win mentioned, ‘she has come here today with some fair
form under her belt and well deserves the win,she is never one to be hard on
the bridle but as the gaps come she comes into herself, and she did that
tonight.’
A good gallop throughout played into the mare’s hands well and like
her nature as the race went on the quality improved to take her share of the
£75’000 prize fund.
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| She is a type that does not come along too often, seven wins, twenty four times not out of the first four, she makes a big difference to the yard.’ |
The race is sure to find a small gem in the horse behind the
winner, that being so it must be mentioned that the three horses able to get in
the race from the Oxfordshire based yard of Eve Johnson Houghton, Ice age, Cool
Bahamian and Goring, finished third, fourth and fifth respectively, no more
than a length between them. As mentioned last week by the trainer she had her
eye on the prize.
The main race of the evening out of the way, it must be said
that other races from the final throws of the 2016 Windsor evening meeting
campaign threw up some hidden gems to sparkle at the end of a summer campaign
of flat racing.
David Evans whose horse have not been firing on full power
of lately sent out 6/4 fav Smokey Lane to take the six furlongs two-year-old
maiden by two lengths from Henry Candy’s Sun Angel.
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| Smokey Lane |
Ridden by Shane Kelly the chestnut colt by Zebedee ran on
well after getting to the front a furlong out.
‘He was just a little too keen
at Newbury and has a drop nose band on today which has made it a little easier
to place him in the race and take on the second placed horse,
he just had that bit of speed in the final part.’
The two-year-old in his fourth run seemed to enjoy the good
to firm ground on offer and looks off a rating of 96 to be off to the York
meeting and a weeks’ time.
The trainer ever too grateful of a win at present was
thrilled to get a win, ‘a few of mine have had dirty noses, what a lot of
people don’t realise that this time of year when the harvest is being bought in and
the rape seed is out, a lot of horses get effected by the spores in the air
constantly, and if you live anywhere near these distractions you can’t get away
from it.'
A frustrating time for the
trainer who always sends his horses to the races with a fighting chance, this
colt, fingers crossed being now the catalyst of things to come for the trainer
from Abergavenny.
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| The two-year-old in his fourth run seemed to enjoy the good to firm ground on offer and looks off a rating of 96 to be off to the York meeting and a weeks’ time. |
Gary Moore sent out the winner of the five runner selling
race over the long distance one mile three furlongs.
Gaelic Silver ridden by
Hector Crouch who over the past three seasons as been the jockey to take this
race on with a winner, last season riding for the Moore yard on Nebula Storm.
The trainer having the first and second in the race, the 5 lbs claimer
was pleased to get on top of his stable mate, especially when George Baker is
in the saddle.
‘This horse was rated highly a few seasons back and has done
that nicely this evening, he had just lost his way a little and now with
building is confidence up, hopefully we can get back to winning ways.’
The nice
big looking sort by Lando had no takers in the auction at the end of the race
so the ten-year-old was taken back to the Horsham yard of Gary Moore.
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| Gaelic Silver ridden by Hector Crouch who over the past three seasons as been the jockey to take this race on with a winner, |
Newmarket’s John Gosden took the next race, the three to
four year olds maidens race over one mile two furlongs, Stratum ridden by Nicky
Mackay, who took the 8/13 fav to the front two furlongs out,eased well on
the line to beat again another of the Henry Candy’s runners Capton by eight
lengths.
‘The race wasn’t the greatest of contests for him, but he has his
handicap mark know, the distance he won this evening won’t really affect him, he
will probably get the mile and a half in time and for a time tonight I was a
little worried he wouldn’t get home, he doesn’t quicken but more lengthens his
stride so a further distance would allow him to do that with a little more
comfort.’
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| Stratum |
Mackay on his seventh winner of the season was very
optimistic and level headed about his lot,
'You just never know what’s around
the corner, I have had some nice maiden seconds and you just have to keep on
plugging on.’
Plugging on is what the jockey will do, as well as this Dansili
colt that would be one to note for sure as a four-year-old.
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| 'He doesn’t quicken but more lengthens his stride so a further distance would allow him to do that with a little more comfort.’ |
The classiest horse of the evening came in the shape of a
three-year-old Oasis Dream filly trained by Luca Cumani and ridden by Adam
Kirby.
Materialistic seemed a very strong and progressive sort as she won nicely
the four runner fillies handicap over the Windsor Mile.
The Newmarket premier trainer with not his best of seasons so far
seems to be finding form and this very nice filly on two wins from two starts
seemed to justify the 4/5 favouritism in a small but classy fillies handicap.
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| Materialistic |
‘she is a well bred strong type of filly,’ mentioned the
jockey. ‘a nice type that would possibly have a good future. Not listed company
straight away, probably another handicap, but wouldn’t be surprised if she
picks up a good race before the season ends.’
By Oasis Dream out of a Barathea
mare this three-year-old has class and staying blood within her veins. The
trainer opting on a patient campaign with her, that would signify he likes
what he sees.
Rumour from the camp of the unusually quite Cumani yard is
there are some nice two-year-old on the way, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see
Luca Cumani’s name in the winner’s enclosure more often as the season closes.
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| ‘a nice type that would possibly have a good future. Not listed company straight away, probably another handicap, but wouldn’t be surprised if she picks up a good race before the season ends.’ |
The
final race of the 2016 evening meeting campaign at Windsor, came in the shape
of another fillies’ race, this time over one mile two furlongs for four year
olds and upwards.
Icymasho
ridden by George Baker and trained in Lambourn by Jonathan Portman was sent to
post the 6/4 fav and showed the faith in the punters selection by winning
easily the race by two lengths from Sahara and Ted Durcan.
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| Icymasho |
‘She is a very straight forward sort of filly, she took a
bit of a hold early on but when she dictates a race like she did tonight she is
hard to beat.’
The four-year-old by Multiplex out of a Mark of Esteem mare
now on five wins from seventeen starts came into the enclosure lame, quickly
noticed that the front off shoe had been lost during the race which caused the
filly to be a bit foot sore, would surly shows that this filly whose name
translated from the Japanese is ‘Let’s Go’ is a tough type that would go
again before the season ends.
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| The filly whose name translated from the Japanese is ‘Let’s Go’ is a tough type that would surly go again before the season ends |
Again another nice race with class horses attached, looking
through the placed horse all should be noted, especially Starlit Cantata, back
in third spot, out of the inform Johnson Houghton yard.
Many more blog reports and images from Windsor and other race meetings can be seen at
