Palmer Lands German Prize, Again
Hugo Palmer’s reputation continues to soar and the trainer secured back-to-back German 1000 Guineas victories, at the weekend. Hawksmoor struck for him, in 2016, while Unforgetable Filly landed the spoils on Sunday. Connections are now focusing on the Falmouth Stakes.
Join RaceBets And Claim Your Welcome Bonus Now!“She did it really well and we’re obviously thrilled.”, said Palmer.
“It’s the third consecutive season we’ve won a European Classic, which is testament to my staff and all the team. I’m very lucky to work with some fantastic people.
“We’ve not quite had the great start to the season we dreamed of after such a great start to last season, but that’s our 18th winner of the year and we’re now actually level-pegging with last year heading into Royal Ascot.
“I think this filly deserves it and I’m absolutely delighted for the owner (Ali Ridha), who has been a huge supporter of mine and extremely loyal.
“The question was whether she’d stay the mile and on a tight track like Dusseldorf, and she obviously did.
“I’d be amazed if she stayed any further and I think the obvious thing would be to enter her for the Falmouth (Newmarket) and hope they get fast ground.”
Super Senga
Flaxman Stables racing manager, Alan Cooper, could not hide his delight after Senga won the Prix de Diane at Chantilly on Sunday. The Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf now looks to be a likely target, for the Pascal Bary-trained horse.
“We’re absolutely thrilled with her performance. We were expecting a good run, if she stayed. She obviously enjoyed the extra ground and won well.
“She only ran two weeks ago and has had a busy year so far, so she’s going to have a rest now. We’ll see when she comes back whether we step her up in trip or come back down.
“She is a fantastic filly, from a fantastic breeding operation. We definitely ran her over too short a distance before.
“Her connections trusted me to let her run in this race, despite having run only two weeks ago. She had a good run, in a race with consistent pace, and showed a superb turn of foot.”
Huge Boost For Bunyan
The shock winner of the Listed Midsummer Sprint (Cork) was Hit The Bid, but trainer Darren Bunyan reckons that nobody should be too surprised. He says he has always believed in the 3-year-old and thinks the Exceed And Excel colt can aim even higher.
“Everybody keeps mentioning about him being a surprise 50/1 winner of a Group Three last year, but everybody forgets he was 100/1 that morning – we weren’t surprised!
“We’ll step him back up to a Group Three or Group Two now, but there’s no programme for those horses in Ireland so he’ll have his suitcases packed again shortly.
“I think he’s definitely a Group Two horse when things go right for him.”
One Last Task, For Gask
Jeremy Gask will be forgiven if he sheds a tear, when he saddles Medicean Man for the final time, at Ascot on Tuesday. The 11-year-old’s career has the words ‘Royal Ascot’ running through it like a stick of Blackpool rock and it is only fitting that he will take his last bow in Berkshire.
“The old boy has taken us to six countries but one of them, Singapore, he didn’t get to race as he lost a shoe,” Gask said.
“He’s been a wonderful horse and part of the family. I think retiring him at Royal Ascot is only fitting for him.
“The ground looks like being nice and quick. It looks like a really strong race, as always, but he’s rarely run poorly in the race.
“He’s been in the first four a couple of times, was just snuffed out once and I’m sure he’ll be thereabouts with a bit of luck.
“He’ll be my only runner, so I can sit back and enjoy the week after getting the run out of the way on the first day!”
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