Royal Ascot Hospitality

Siyouni should prove too steep a challenge for Cliffs at Royal Ascot

corporatehospitalitygroup — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:10:47 +0000

Siyouni looks to have slipped under the radar for his clash with Makfi and Canford Cliffs in next Tuesday’s St James’s Palace Stakes on the opening day at Royal Ascot 2010.
Christophe Lemaire’s mount can put a poor showing in the French Guineas and his rivals behind him next Tuesday
Few horses can have divided opinion as much this season as Canford Cliffs. Beaten at odds-on in the Greenham, some could not wait to write him off as a one-race wonder on the strength of that freakish display in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot 12 months ago. But those who kept the faith drew encouragement from his third behind Makfi and Dick Turpin at Newmarket, and then got paid out at the Curragh three weeks later when he bolted up in the Irish Guineas.
The problem for those who want to take Ladbrokes’ best offer of 6-4 about him maintaining the winning run next week is that Makfi is surely just as capable of improving upon his Guineas form given his progressive profile and the late start he made to his career.
The winner of the Grand Critérium last year, Siyouni was defeated on his comeback when he failed to reel back his pacemaker, which seemed to dent his reputation. But he got the better of a good scrap for second with Lope de Vega who on Sunday spreadeagled his rivals in the Prix du Jockey Club. Siyouni’s trainer Alain de Royer-Dupré took this race in 1999 with the Aga’s Sendawar.
However, at 8-1, it would be wrong to overlook the claims of Siyouni, for whom Christophe Lemaire must desert Makfi on account of his retainer for the Aga Khan. Siyouni trailed home a long way back when favourite for the French Guineas on his latest start, but Lemaire essentially gave up the ghost as soon as his mount’s winning chance was extinguished by trouble in running and that sympathetic treatment may now reap dividends.
The Royal Ascot horse racing festival has seemed to start with a whimper in recent years with the crowds lowest on the first of the five days and many racegoers appearing more interested in riding the escalators and bagging a good table for the rest of the week than in concentrating on the action on the track. But if ever there was an incentive for the racing purist to take a day off and get down to Ascot next week it is the three fascinating Group One contests, each offering punters a different puzzle, that get the action under way on Tuesday.
Paco Boy was an easy winner of the Queen Anne 12 months ago, but he had nothing of the calibre of Goldikova and Rip Van Winkle in opposition and looks vulnerable now, not least having finished well held behind those rivals in previous meetings. To me, he ought to be the clear outsider of the three.
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Prince Khalid Abdullah forms strong squad for Royal Ascot

corporatehospitalitygroup — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:08:49 +0000

Prince Khalid Abdullah has a clear lead in the owners’ table after the Derby success of Workforce and the Saudi patron has bright prospects of advancing those gains at Royal Ascot 2010 next week.
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The back-up team is also strong. Principal Role is earmarked for the Ribblesdale Stakes, Redwood holds the Hardwicke Stakes entry while Timepiece, who finished unplaced in the Investec Oaks, is likely to drop back to a mile for the Sandringham Stakes. However, Special Duty, the dual classic winner, is expected to bypass the Coronation Stakes in favour of the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket next month.
Nevertheless, connections believe Zacinto deserves his place in Queen Anne field. “He was not quite right after his Breeders’ Cup run and he was in an uncharacteristically bad frame of mind before the Lockinge,” Lord Grimthorpe, racing manager for Abdullah, said yesterday.
Zacinto faces a daunting assignment in the opening race of the five-day meeting when he confronts Goldikova, Rip Van Winkle and Paco Boy over the straight mile. The four-year-old chased home Rip Van Winkle in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in September but has since run disappointingly in the Breeders’ Cup Mile and the Lockinge Stakes won by Paco Boy last month.
Showcasing, for his part, finished strongly when conceding weight in the Duke Of York Stakes last month. “He started slightly slowly at York but he rallied well from that,” Grimthorpe said. “We were very pleased with the way he came home.”
Manifest and Showcasing approach their respective races on the back of encouraging runs last time. “Manifest is relatively untried for his age,” Grimthorpe said of the four-year-old. “As with most horses going for the Gold Cup, we don’t know whether he will stay two-and-a-half miles but the further he goes, the better he looks.”
Byword is a fascinating candidate for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes on Wednesday. The winner of four of his seven races, he beat all bar Goldikova in the nine-furlong Prix d’Ispahan last month, when he drew ten lengths clear of the third, German Derby winner Wiener Walzer. “It was a good effort from Byword and the extra furlong at Ascot will suit him,” Grimthorpe said.
Workforce lost just 9lb in winning the Derby but connections feel that the colt must have given his all to shatter the track record. Grimthorpe said: “It was always the plan to go on to the Irish Derby, but we weren’t quite expecting to see what we saw from him at Epsom.
“He must have had a hard race, so Ireland [on June 27] might come too soon. At this stage it is more likely he will go straight to the King George, but all options remain open. We will know a lot more in a week’s time. He didn’t lose that much weight, so on the face of it, he has taken the Derby well.”
Meanwhile, Aviate, much fancied for the Oaks before finishing seventh, is to be given a short break after the daughter of Dansili failed to stay. But Abdullah, who has won three classics this season, has another live hope in Deluxe, who contests the Prix de Diane on Sunday.
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Makfi bonus for Olivier Peslier ahead of St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot

corporatehospitalitygroup — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:06:23 +0000

Olivier Peslier has picked up the prize ride on French colt Makfi in Tuesday’s St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot 2010.
Lemaire will be disappointed he cannot renew his partnership with Makfi, who won the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in May so brilliantly under his guidance. He has ridden the unbeaten colt on two of his three wins.
Peslier will take over from Christophe Lemaire, who will be required to partner Siyouni for his boss the Aga Khan in the Group One race. Georges Rimaud, the Aga Khan’s racing manager, said last night: ‘Siyouni will go to the St James’s Palace and Christophe Lemaire will ride him.’
Siyouni, meanwhile, will be looking to redeem himself after disappointing as a 2-1 favourite under Lemaire in the French equivalent behind Lope De Vega.
The Andre Fabre-trained winner boosted the form with success in Sunday’s French Derby at Chantilly.
A little gloss was rubbed off the Royal Ascot Horse racing Festival yesterday when hopes that the dual 1000 Guineas winner Special Duty would run were dashed.
Criquette Head-Maarek, whose filly won the English and French Classics in the stewards’ room after passing the post in second place in both, will divert her from the Coronation Stakes to Newmarket’s Falmouth Stakes on July 7.
‘This will give her a little more time to recover after her Classic double.’
Head-Maarek said: ‘She’s looking beautiful and will now run in the Falmouth Stakes.
Luca Cumani is planning to run his globetrotting star Presvis in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Ascot on Wednesday.
Kingsgate Native will run in the King’s Stand but it is rival Australian raider Nicconi, favourite for the race, who has been burning up the gallops.
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John Dunlop rules Pimpernel out of Royal Ascot as he finalises plans

corporatehospitalitygroup — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:04:19 +0000

Elusive Pimpernel will miss both the St James’s Palace Stakes and the Irish Derby after suffering a setback.
As he finalised plans for next week’s Royal Ascot Festival, trainer John Dunlop revealed the three-year-old colt, who has not run since finishing fifth in the 2000 Guineas, is on the easy list.
Dunlop said: "Elusive Pimpernel has had a hiccup. It is not anything major but he is ruled out of the St James’s Palace Stakes and won’t be out again in the next month. It’s very disappointing but these things happen."
"Mudaaraah goes in the Ribblesdale Stakes. She was fourth in the Height of Fashion Stakes at Goodwood behind the subsequent Oaks winner, so the form looks good.
Dunlop has been training horses at Castle Stables in Arundel for almost half a century. The 70-year-old has saddled almost 3,500 winners, including 10 Classics. Keen to add to his haul of 34 Royal Ascot victories, he sends a small but highly select team to the Berkshire track.
He said: "Perfect Shot runs in the Ascot Stakes. He won the other day at Newmarket but the two-and-a-half miles is on trust. He ran well over two-and-a-quarter miles at York but even then I’m not sure he stayed it.
"In the Gold Cup we have Akmal, who won the Henry II Stakes at Sandown well last time. He hasn’t gone two-and-a-half-miles but neither have any of the others. He took his time this spring but he is in good shape and one would be hopeful."
Dunlop relies on Waseet in the 1m 4f King Edward VII Stakes on Friday week. He said: "The track and trip will suit him. He ran well when second in the Royal Lodge at Ascot last season."
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Horse racing: Prince Charles will miss Royal Ascot to recover from chest infection

corporatehospitalitygroup — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:43:03 +0000

The Prince of Wales will miss Royal Ascot 2010 next week on doctors’ orders, so he can recover from an ongoing illness.
He is to take three days off next week, cancelling all planned engagements, so he can try to shake off a persistent chest infection.
But the heir to the throne decided against rest and recuperation this week because he had so many important events to attend.
A spokesman for Clarence House said: “On doctor’s advice, The Prince of Wales will be taking three days off at the beginning of next week.
The Prince’s commitments this week include taking part in The Queen’s Birthday Parade, hosting two military receptions, visiting the Royal Cornwall Show and giving a lecture on Islam and the environment to mark the 25th anniversary of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.
“The Prince has been suffering from a persistent chest infection for over a month and doctors have advised him to find a number of consecutive days in which to have a complete rest.”
Instead of cancelling them, he will take three days off at the start of next week. The Prince will travel to Birkhall, his private home on the Queen’s Balmoral Estate in Scotland, with his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall.
He will miss Royal Ascot 2010, the week-long race meeting and highlight of the social calendar that dates back to 1711.
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The Prince will also miss the Garter Service and Procession, which always takes place at Windsor Castle on the Monday of Royal Ascot week and which is traditionally attended by all senior members of the Royal family.
In her throne room, the Queen will formally invest new Companions of the Order of the Garter – the senior British Order of Chivalry, founded in 1348 – with the insignia.
Following lunch, there is a procession of the Knights to St George’s Chapel followed by an installation ceremony.
The Prince’s illness is not believed to be serious and he is scheduled to return to work on Thursday.
It is believed he has attended every Garter ceremony since 1989, and Ascot each year for most of the past decade.
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Horse racing: Richard Hannon Jr confident Paco Boy is ready for Ascot

corporatehospitalitygroup — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:39:39 +0000

The Queen Anne looks like being race of the week at Royal Ascot 2010 and Paco Boy’s team are in confident mood.
Dual Breeders’ Cup Mile heroine Goldikova and Sussex Stakes winner Rip Van Winkle are preparing to take on the apple of Richard Hannon’s eye in what should be a thriller.
Hannon Jnr admits Paco Boy still has it to prove against opponents of that calibre, but believes if he is ever going to do so, then it will be this year.
He said:"Goldikova is very good and she’ll be very hard to beat. She is a champion and Paco Boy is not at that status yet, but he does seem better this year than ever."
In the St James’ Palace, Hill make another Hannon star, Canford Cliffs favourite to take revenge on French raider Makfi, who brushed him aside in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.
Last year’s Coventry Stakes winner finally got it right when bolting up in the Irish 2000 Guineas.
Hannon Jnr said:"He came home so well at Newmarket I was a little bit disappointed he didn’t win that day.
"He’d had a prep run and there was no issue with the trip so it was maybe the dip that beat him. We’re taking on the winner again but we still fancy him."
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Ladbrokes slashed French Derby runner-up Planteur to 16-1 from 25s for the Arc and spokesman David Williams explained: "Lope De Vega seems unlikely to get the Arc trip so we’ve taken the runner-up Planteur out of the race and suspect he is capable of better later this year."
Michael Bell reckons Sariska is in for a lucrative campaign after her great run in the Coronation Cup. Last season’s dual Oaks winner found only the brilliant Fame And Glory too good in a vintage renewal.
Bell said: "She ran a huge race, but just came up short against a very good horse on the day. We’ve got some big targets ahead but I have to have a proper chat with her owner."
Haljaferia is worth the wait in the last at Salisbury. The son of Halling bounced back to form at HQ recently in an amateur race and the booking of Fallon looks interesting.
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Horse racing: Wesley Ward culls his team for this year’s Royal Ascot meeting

corporatehospitalitygroup — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:34:55 +0000

US trainer Wesley Ward, who broke new ground when winning two juvenile races at Royal Ascot last year, has scrapped plans to be mob handed at next weeks renewal and may only have one representative or even none at all.
A team of four youngsters were originally penned into plunder further booty at next weeks Berkshire bash but Ward changed plans to send them to Newmarket last Thursday at the last minute.
Ward may now send the unbeaten Metropolitan Man for the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes on Thursday week but even these plans are subject to change and flight plans later this week.
Twelve months ago, Ward landed the Queen Mary and Windsor Castle Stakes with Jealous Again and Strike the Tiger respectively.
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Adrian Beaumont, of the International Racing Bureau, said: ‘Wesley Ward pulled the plug on last weeks flight at the last minute and has no horses in Newmarket at present. One might still be coming,which may be Metropolitan Man, but I haven’t had that confirmed yet.’
Meanwhile Toby Coles has recently become one of the youngest ever trainers to hold a licence in Newmarket and the 25-year-old is hoping that Silken Promise can give him his first success at Folkestone on Monday.
A former assistant to Sir Mark Prescott and Ed Dunlop, Cole filled a similar role with Christophe Clement in the US before extending his global knowledge in Australia and New Zealand.
Cole has recently returned to Newmarket where he currently rents a barn from Rae Guest at his Chestnut Tree Stables base on the Hamilton Road.
The rookie trainer said: ‘I decided I had to have go myself at training as no one would employ me as an assistant anymore.I rent 14 boxes at Rae Guest’s and have 8 in at the moment. We have had four runners to date and it would be nice to get one on the board on Monday.’
As well as his training duties, Coles has been helping connections of Australian sprinting star Gold Trail prepare their speedster for Royal Ascot next week.
The handler traded his tweed cap for a skull cap at the weekend when putting the six year old through his paces on the Al Bahathri Polytrack.
Coles has booked Frankie Dettori for the ride on Silken Promise who faces ten rivals in the twelve furlong Joy Is Discovering Your Favourite Brands Handicap (4.15).
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Horse racing: GIVEN LOOKS TO ASCOT FOR DAN THE MAN

corporatehospitalitygroup — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:33:17 +0000

Dandino will head to Royal Ascot in search of a four-timer after rattling off the hat-trick in impressive fashion at Epsom on Derby Day.
James Given kept it low-key with his colt in previous starts, sending him to Redcar and Doncaster, but took on some smart three-year-olds in the Investec Vincent O’Brien Handicap.
Owned by the Elite Racing Club, Dandino (17-2) showed a striking turn of foot under Paul Mulrennan to settle the race very quickly.
"It has been such a frustrating couple of weeks as we have had a 30% runners to place ratio, but they have been running well without winning and to come off the cold list in that way is very pleasing," said Given.
"Paul rode with lots of confidence and he has done it in a tremendous manner.
"We will step up to a mile and a half now for the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot 2010."
Godolphin look to have discovered a useful older filly with German recruit Antara making a winning debut for Sheikh Mohammed’s operation in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes.
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Trainer Saeed bin Suroor said: "If she comes out of this OK she could possibly go to Royal Ascot 2010, where the Windsor Forest would be the obvious race."
Hardened Irish two-year-old High Award (7-1) took advantage of the slow early pace to dominate the Investec Woodcote Stakes under Johnny Murtagh.
"We worked him hard to win first time out, but I suppose we’ve been easy on him the last couple of times and those have put him right for today.
"He had plenty of experience and handled the track well," said Fozzy Stack, son and assistant to trainer Tommy.
Stuart Williams’ bottom-weight Bertoliver was third at the course in April but went off at 33-1 as he blitzed down the stands rail in the Investec Entrepreneurial Class ‘Dash’.
"We’ll think about Ascot now, where we have the Coventry, Norfolk and Windsor Castle as options."
It was a fine moment for winning jockey Jack Mitchell, son of local trainer Philip.
"He has been a disappointing horse since he won so well at Lingfield last year," said the Newmarket baronet.
Sir Mark Prescott’s continued his ridiculously hot form as Fortuni (9-1) turned the Investec Surefooted Challenge into a procession.
"I didn’t think he ran very well at York last time so we decided to change the tactics, make the running, and it worked."
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Horse racing: Kieren Fallon rides Al Zir in Derby

corporatehospitalitygroup — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 10:55:27 +0000

The colt, which finished ninth in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on his only outing so far this season, is a 33-1 chance with most bookmakers.
On a day of shocks in racing, it was revealed that Kieren Fallon has been booked to ride Al Zir for Godolphin in the Investec Derby at Epsom.

Fallon had been lamenting the possibility of missing out on the Classic. He was passed over for Ted Spread, and had been waiting for a call from Aidan O’Brien for one of the Ballydoyle team, but the call never came.
Godolphin will have Frankie Dettori riding stable elect Rewilding, now 8-1 from 12-1 with Ladbrokes, Ahmed Ajtebi aboard 66-1 chance Buzzword, and now Fallon on Al Zir.
Simon Crisford, racing manager for the ‘royal blues,’ said; “Kieren Fallon’s record in the Derby is fantastic, and he was available.”
The unbeaten sprinter was under consideration for either the Golden Jubilee Stakes or the King’s Stand Stakes, but is not yet at peak fitness from a protracted spell on the sidelines.
Overdose, the legendary Hungarian horse dubbed the ‘Budapest Bullet’, will not run at Royal Ascot.
Although pencilled in to return at Bratislava on June 6, after which a trip to Berkshire beckoned, those plans have now been scrapped.
Owner Zoltan Mikoczy said: “Having seen the horse train and evaluated this, it was decided not to take part at Bratislava or Ascot.
Overdose has been off the track since last April as he recovers from a foot injury.
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Overdose out of Ascot – but on comebacktrail

corporatehospitalitygroup — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 10:53:39 +0000

The Hungarian sprinter, nicknamed the ‘Budapest Bullet’, missed all last year with a foot problem, but owner Zoltan Mikoczy remains upbeat about the five-year-old.
He said: "Royal Ascot is definitely off as it would be wrong to go there without a run. Any other horse maybe, but Overdose needs two runs before a Group 1 race."
His owner continued: "We are now looking at a Listed race at Maisons-Laffitte on June 25 (Prix de Hampton) for his planned comeback."
OVERDOSE was on Tuesday ruled out of Royal Ascot, but the ‘winner’ of the voided Prix del’Abbaye two years ago is ready to make his comeback in France this month.
Overdose was a 10-1 shot generally for the King’s Stand Stakes and 12-1 for the Golden Jubilee, but was taken out of the betting by a number of firms on Tuesday.

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