Tuesday 8th May 2007
Prosser highlights outstanding Guineas winners
Prosser - delighted with HQ's spring showpiece
NEWMARKET’S director of racing Michael Prosser today reflected on ‘the superb racing and superb atmosphere’ that were evident at last weekend’s Stan James Guineas Festival.
With the dust settling, Prosser felt that the meeting was as good as any Guineas fixture in his seven years at racing’s headquarters.
“It was an absolute pleasure to work and be part of the 2007 Stan James Guineas Festival,” he said.
“I feel sure that in Cockney Rebel and Finsceal Beo, the respective winners of the 2000 and 1000 Guineas, we have two outstanding horses.
“In triumphing, Cockney Rebel’s performance was all the more remarkable when you consider he was drawn in 15. The Channel 4 coverage showed very clearly that he was a very long way back from the front-running Vital Equine with just over three furlongs left.
“But the acceleration he showed was extremely impressive and in coming to win on the outer, his display was similar to that of Golan, who was successful in the same race in 2001.
“I believe Cockney Rebel will this season go on to reinforce his credentials as an outstanding three-year miler.”
Prosser also felt that the manner in which Finsceal Beo defeated her field in the Stan James 1000 Guineas, marks her out as a filly from the top drawer.
He said: “She was extraordinary. To produce that performance first time out in 2007 was quite exceptional.
“From our perspective, a satisfactory element of the race was that it upheld the form of last year’s Rockfel Stakes. The race’s reputation has considerably grown in stature in recent times. Its last three winners have been Maids Causeway, Speciosa and now Finsceal Beo.”
The Group 2 StanJamesUK.com Jockey Club Stakes was won in fine fashion by Sixties Icon, who will now head to the Coronation Cup at Epsom on June 1.
Prosser said: “While working at Newmarket, I have been privileged to see horses of the stature of Shirocco , Warrsan and Marienbard win the Jockey Club Stakes. Sixties Icon is another top-class winner of the race and I am confident that he will be one of the leading middle-distance performers in Europe this year.”
Prosser summed up: “The Stan James Guineas fixture was a success on many levels. We were blessed with decent weather, comments regarding the ground were complimentary, while the racing and the overall atmosphere at the NatWest Rowley Mile course were superb.”
