1000 Guineas day: Adayar sets up trip to Royal Ascot with winning return in Gordon Richards Stakes
Adayar (5/6 favourite) beat Anmaat and Highland Avenue to win Group Three Gordon Richards Stakes at Newmarket on Sunday; winner set to head to Royal Ascot for the Prince Of Wales's Stakes as Betfair cut him to 7/2 from 9/2
Sunday 7 May 2023 15:33, UK
Former Derby and King George winner Adayar showed a clean pair of heels to his four rivals in the rescheduled bet365 Gordon Richards Stakes at Newmarket, setting up a trip to Royal Ascot next month.
Charlie Appleby's Frankel entire had been sidelined for 11 months before winning a conditions event at Doncaster in September and followed that with a half-length defeat to Bay Bridge in the Champion Stakes at Ascot.
Making his seasonal bow as a five-year-old, William Buick's mount was sent off the 5/6 favourite for the 10-furlong Group Three contest, which was saved after Sandown's card was abandoned last weekend.
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Despite the soft ground, his supporters never had any cause for concern, as the Godolphin-owned runner tracked stablemate Highland Avenue, himself making his return after 428 days off.
While James Doyle set out to make all, Adayar settled superbly in behind and, taking it up on the bridle approaching a furlong out, William Buick's mount lengthened with the minimum of fuss, striding clear to win by two and a half lengths.
Anmaat, who had a 5lb penalty for winning the Prix Dollar at ParisLongchamp in October, was a little keen early on, but stayed on well under Jim Crowley to overhaul Highland Avenue for second late on.
Adayar was subsequently cut to 7/2 (from 6/1) for the Coronation Cup and 16/1 (from 33/1) for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with Coral, with Betfair going 7/2 from 9/2 for the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Appleby is keen to head to the Royal meeting. He said: "It's tiring ground out there, he got tired and didn't handle the dip, but good horses can overcome those negatives and still do what he's done today.
"I'm very pleased to get him back on track, he's had a nice experience out there today and he will definitely come forward for the run, so I'd imagine now it's all systems go for the Prince of Wales's Stakes.
"He and Hurricane Lane are two great racehorses and it's great to get the pair of them back this week. We feel the mile and a half is going to be Hurricane Lane's division this year and I've always wanted Adayar to try to win a Group One over a mile and a quarter, as it will look very good on his CV.
"Better ground at Ascot would suit him, for sure. They went a sensible gallop today, but I think in a Prince of Wales's, where he'll get a good, strong gallop to run at it, will suit him really well and we know he loves Ascot.
"It was a frustrating time having to sit through the summer with him last year. We saw some great racehorses, but we had a horse that we were very excited about in the spring miss three-parts of the season. Hopefully we'll make a bit of headway again this year."
Via Sistina blows rivals away in Dahlia
Via Sistina was a runaway winner in a strong renewal of the Howden Dahlia Stakes for jockey Jamie Spencer and trainer George Boughey.
The strapping daughter of Fastnet Rock, reportedly the biggest horse in the Newmarket yard, had won a Group Three at Toulouse in November, having finished runner-up on her first start for the yard in a similar contest at Newmarket.
Formerly with Joseph Tuite, the five-year-old was back down in trip to nine furlongs for her seasonal debut and relished the soft ground, travelling sweetly throughout the Group Two contest.
As the field split into two groups early, Spencer sat motionless on the far side as last season's Falmouth winner Prosperous Voyage set the pace, and he was still on the bridle when the pace quickened.
With two furlongs to race Via Sistina, sent off the 5/2 favourite, was asked to quicken and she strode clear in tremendous fashion to score eased down by six lengths from Al Husn, who got the better of Astral Beau by half a length for the minor honours.
Running Lions enters Oaks picture but Gosden urges patience
John Gosden was hesitant to commit to a tilt at the Betfred Oaks with Running Lion following her dominant success in the Howden Pretty Polly Stakes.
The three-year-old was sent off at 100/30 for the Listed contest following a hat-trick of all-weather wins and was always travelling strongly in the hands of Oisin Murphy.
Once given her head, Running Lion soon put clear daylight between herself and her rivals and passed the post with four and a half lengths in hand over the runner-up Sumo Sam.
Betfred immediately slashed the winner to 7/1 for 20/1 for Epsom - but having seen her sire Roaring Lion come up short in the stamina department when third in the 2018 Derby, Gosden raised the French equivalent, the Prix de Diane, as a possible alternative.
"We're delighted with her. We brought her down here for a piece of work and Oisin said we should go for the Pretty Polly rather than the 1000 Guineas as she'll need the mile and a quarter, so we've made the right decision," said the Clarehaven handler.
"Roaring Lion was a wonderful horse with all the Group Ones that he won. He won the Dante in tremendous style, we went to the Derby, he was the last one off the bridle and didn't see out the mile and a half, so it will be very interesting with this filly whether she's more Prix de Diane or a mile-and-a-half Oaks filly. We'll have to give that a bit of thought.
"Anything's possible and you've got more trials to come. There's the Musidora at York and the Newbury trial and the filly of Sir Michael Stoute's who won here on Friday (Infinite Cosmos) looked very classy, so we'll see how it shapes up."
He added: "The jockey's first reaction was to possibly stay at a mile and a quarter and I'm always interested as to what they say when they come back straight away, not when they've had time to think.
"We made the mistake with Roaring Lion, who hit the line strongly in the Dante but didn't see out the trip in the Derby, so we'll give it a lot of thought.
"The idea would be to go to one of the Oaks, which one it is I don't know. We won the Diane last year (with Nashwa) and it's a wonderful race, you just don't want a bad draw."
HMS President finished with a flourish to secure top honours in the £100,000 Howden Handicap.
Torcello gave a bold sight in front for much of the one-mile-six-furlong contest, but was unable to resist the late charge of Alan King's 7/1 shot, with a neck separating them at the line.
Adjuvant also came home strongly to dead-heat with Torcello for second.
