Audacity Of Hope returns in Group 3
Tuesday 29th September, 2009
Audacity Of Hope - success on his last outing at Newmarket on September 18
Charlie McBride went close to clinching a first Group 3 success when Blue Maiden was touched off at Newmarket in August but the trainer believes Audacity Of Hope can bring a Pattern race triumph to Saffron House Stables with victory in the £60,000 Somerville Tattersall Stakes (3.45pm) on Thursday 1st October.
The Red Ransom colt is one of nine declared for the seven-furlong Group 3 contest at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile course, which is the highlight on day one of the three-day Cambridgeshire meeting.
Audacity Of Hope heads to the prestigious contest seeking a three-timer following smart victories over the distance in competitive nurseries at Doncaster and Newmarket.
McBride revealed today: “The horse is screaming since his last race. We talked about putting him away for next year after his last run - that’s what Kieren (Fallon) wanted to do because he’s a nice, big, scopey horse - but he has been so fresh and well after the race that he looks as if he hasn’t had a race. He’s bucking and kicking and looks fantastic in his coat, so we thought we would have a go.”
The McBride-trained Blue Maiden has set the bar for her stablemate with a runner-up finish behind Long Lashes in the Group 3 skybet.com Sweet Solera Stakes but the handler believes Audacity Of Hope can at least match the filly’s achievement.
He continued: “Audacity Of Hope has progressed well through the season but we have always thought he was a good horse. Early in the season he worked a couple of times with our Group 3 filly, Blue Maiden, and there wasn’t much between them. There has been a lot of debate and discussion in the yard as to which of the two is better.
“He was beaten by Clarietta in a Newmarket nursery off a mark of 76, which came as a shock to me because I thought he was a good thing. He tried Group 3 company in the Solario Stakes but it was a non-event for him because he lost the race after 100 yards. He was in the middle of the pack racing too free and pulling hard, but since then we have got him settled.
“He’s now rated 95 and the top-rated horse in the Somerville Tattersall is 106, so he needs to improve about 10lb but I think he has been winning his nurseries nicely and it’s quite possible that he has that amount of improvement in him. He will also like the ground - it was soft when Clarietta beat him but he really loves fast ground and we have had no rain here in Newmarket.”
Kieren Fallon has struck up a good partnership with Audacity Of Hope and the former champion is seeking to maintain his perfect record aboard the colt.
McBride said: “Kieren has ridden him a couple of times and gets on really well with him. He rides him for a turn of foot and the horse has kept improving through the year. Whether he’s good enough to win a Group 3, we’ll find out on Thursday.
“On the whole, his nursery form is standing up and we think he’s good enough to have another crack at a Group 3.”
A classy renewal of the Somerville Tattersall Stakes is on the cards with the Clive Brittain-trained Nideeb stepping up to Group 3 company after fine efforts in Listed grade, including victory in the Winkfield Stakes at Ascot in July.
The Exceed And Excel colt ran well under a penalty to finish second behind Emerald Commander in a mile Listed contest at Haydock on 5th September. That outing came over a mile and the Group 2 Dewhurst Stakes and Racing Post Trophy entry now steps back down to seven furlongs.
Brittain revealed: “I thought he ran a fair race at Haydock and he will probably improve for that. I think the experience of travelling away will have done him good and we must be in there with a chance.
“I would say the ground will be ideal for him and I think this is the right race for him. He’s in the Racing Post Trophy back over a mile and that could be on the cards if he progresses that far. Right now we’re looking forward to a nice run.”
The Somerville Tattersall Stakes could see the Paul Cole Mata Keranjang bid to lose his maiden tag. The colt, runner-up to Xtension in the Group 2 Vintage Stakes at Goodwood, filled the same berth on his latest start in a Listed contest at the same venue.
The John Gosden-trained Hunting Tartan won a Chepstow maiden in impressive fashion last month, while the Barry Hills-trained Khattaab was the seven-length victor of a Haydock maiden in August. The latter trainer’s Swilly Ferry won the lucrative Weatherbys Insurance £300,000 2-Y-O Stakes at Doncaster on 10th September.
Irish raider Sebastian Flyte, trained by Francis Ennis, was third to Arctic in the Group Three Round Tower Stakes, while the field is completed by the Brian Meehan-trained Manhattan Fox and Sir Parky from the Richard Hannon yard.