Friday 9th April 2010
Stars aplenty in two-year-old races
Monsieur Chevalier in full cry on route to success in the 2009 Salinity Conditions Stakes
THE Craven meeting is renowned for its recognised Guineas trials and other Classic pointers.
But its reputation as a starting-point for top-class two-year-olds is less well known – or, certainly, has not been as widely reported.
The two-year-old fillies’ maiden has an astonishing recent record. Sponsored by NGK Spark Plugs/Coachmakers, since 2004 this 5f contest has been won by no less than Flashy Wings (subsequently successful in the Queen Mary, Lowther Stakes in 2005), Silk Blossom (2006 Lowther Stakes) and Sienna Gold (Weatherbys Super Sprint), while Spinning Lucy (2007 Bosra Sham Stakes) finished third in it.
The race threw up a Group Two winner last season in the shape of Habaayib. She finished third at Newmarket but went on to secure Royal Ascot glory in the Albany Stakes.
The Salinity Conditions Stakes has an equally proud record in recent times. and it was given a further boost last year by Monsieur Chevalier, who went on to land the Molecomb Stakes at Glorious Goodwood. Back in fourth on that occasion was Hearts Of Fire, a subsequent Group 1 winner in Italy and now on target to line up in this year’s StanJames.com 2000 Guineas.
In 2008 Art Connoisseur landed it en route to Coventry Stakes glory at Royal Ascot. Twelve months earlier and Dark Angel began his season by finishing second in the event: he ended the campaign with success at Newmarket in no less than the Group 1 Shadwell Middle Park Stakes.
In 2006 Gilded won it before her Queen Mary triumph and a year before that Cool Creek (Mill Reef Stakes winner) was victorious. Other two-year-old runners at the meeting – this year scheduled for April 14-15 – have been Excellent Art (won), Red Clubs and Blue Dakota (won), all of whom went on to stakes’ success with the first two landing Group 1s.
Newmarket’s Director of Racing Michael Prosser says: “The quality of the two-year-old racing at the Craven meeting speaks for itself. Year after year, these races produce Group winners – indeed Group 1 winners in some instances.
“Of course, race-goers attend the Craven meeting for Classic clues . But history shows that close scrutiny of our juvenile events is also likely to pay off in the not-too-distant future. We are proud of the record of the two two-year-old races that we stage at the Craven meeting. I don’t doubt that at this year’s fixture we will once again witness stakes performers in the making in those two five-furlong contests.”
