Tag Archive for: Almeraq

No decision yet on promising Almeraq’s weekend target

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Connections of Almeraq have yet to decide whether to throw the promising colt in “at the deep end” in Saturday’s Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock.

The William Haggas-trained three-year-old has won two of his four starts to date and was last seen making a mockery of an opening mark of 90 on his handicap debut at Ayr in July.

The son of Dark Angel has the option of returning to Scotland for the Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup later this month but owners Shadwell are favouring a step up in class this weekend, with the Listed Garrowby Stakes at York on Sunday a possible alternative to Saturday’s Group One feature on Merseyside.

“No decision has been made as yet,” Shadwell’s racing manager Angus Gold said on Tuesday.

“I spoke to William this morning and it’s sort of depending a bit on the weather and how much rain they get (at Haydock). We’d like a good bit of rain for him as we know he likes soft ground and also we’re just debating whether we throw him in at the deep end or take a more gentle approach.

“We’ve been very patient with him, William has been very patient. He hasn’t had much racing and is a very unexposed horse, so from that point of view it might be asking too much to lob him straight in against the best and that’s what we’re discussing.”

If Almeraq does not head for Haydock, he could instead step up to the highest level on Qipco Champions Day at Ascot next month.

Gold added: “He’s in a Listed race at York on Sunday, so whether we go down that route first to try and make him a Stakes winner and then if he was to win that and win nicely we could look at the British Champions Sprint.

“He’s had so little racing this horse and has missed so much of the year with the firm ground, it will just be nice to get him back on the track and see where we’re going with him.

“There certainly is rain around, but you never quite know where it’s going to hit, so we’re going to work the horse in the morning, have another chat then and try and make the right decision.

“He’s also in at Ayr, but he’s not a Stakes winner as yet and we every much hope that he is Stakes class, so it would be nice to make him a Stakes winner.”

Prestige run a possibility for Newbury victor Touleen

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The Prestige Stakes at Goodwood is a potential next port of call for Touleen following her impressive debut at Newbury last week.

A daughter of Lope De Vega out of Group Three-winning mare Talaayeb, the Shadwell homebred was sent off favourite to make a successful start to her career for trainer Owen Burrows and obliged in some style.

Shadwell’s racing manager, Angus Gold, admitted the performance was beyond his expectations and is excited to see how she performs when upped in class.

He said: “We’ve made an entry for her in the Rockfel and the Fillies’ Mile. I spoke to Owen briefly and he said he’ll see how she is next week and he might think about putting her in the Prestige at Goodwood, or I believe there’s a fillies’ novice coming up at Newmarket possibly.

“Owen had only ever said she went all right. They took her for an away-day at Kempton and Jim (Crowley) liked the feel of her, but they didn’t press any buttons.

“I think that experience stood her in good stead, she was in the right spot in the race and I loved the way she put the race to bed and kept going all the way to the line.

“It wasn’t expected, but it was obviously very nice to see. We’ll give her two or three more runs and see how she takes it all. She’s not a big, robust filly so we’ll just feel our way, but Owen is quite keen to get on and run her in the next three weeks or so.”

Another horse held in high regard by the Shadwell team is Almeraq, who having bolted up in an Ayr handicap last month is set to have his sights raised, with Gold not ruling out the possibility of an immediate step up to Group One level in the Sprint Cup at Haydock.

“He was in a Listed race in France the other day (Prix Moonlight Cloud) but we thought it was going to be too quick,” he added.

“I think there is a Listed race at Newmarket at the end of next week (Hopeful Stakes) so we could look at that, depending on the weather. Or if necessary, if things aren’t going to work and we want to take the bold route, we could go straight to Haydock for the Sprint Cup.

“We’ve missed a lot of the season with him, he’s always been a potentially nice horse and there is no point going down the handicapping route, so let’s just get on and see what the weather does and take it from there.”

Deauville calling for progressive Almeraq

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Impressive recent Ayr winner Almeraq could head to France next weekend for the Listed Prix Moonlight Cloud at Deauville.

The lightly-raced William Haggas-trained colt bolted up in Scotland, winning an Ayr Gold Cup trial by five lengths.

Given how impressive he was a hefty rise in the weights was on the cards and he has been put up a stone by the assessor.

Haggas now holds Group-race aspirations for the Shadwell-owned three-year-old, but a tilt at the Ayr Gold Cup next month has not been ruled out.

“We’ve put him in a Listed race at Deauville, so that is a possibility,” said Haggas.

“He went up 14lb for his win the other day so he will get in the Ayr Gold Cup now.

“I’ll put him in it. We hope that he’s going to reach dizzier heights than that at some point at this stage.”

Almeraq powers to hugely impressive victory at Ayr

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William Haggas looks to have a very useful three-year-old in his armoury after Almeraq blitzed the field in the Fergie & Myra Happel Ayr Gold Cup Trial Handicap at Ayr.

The Shadwell-owned Dark Angel colt was making his handicap debut off a mark of 90 as the 2-1 favourite in Scotland and looked at ease as he stalked the early leaders in the six-furlong race.

He made headway at the halfway stage and moved in front at the two-furlong marker before kicking into top gear to breeze clear of his 17 rivals. Almeraq, who has an entry for the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock in September, powered to the line to complete a five-length success in the hands of Clifford Lee and enhance his growing reputation.

The four-year-old was slashed in price to 3-1 favourite with the sponsors for the Coral Stewards’ Cup at Glorious Goodwood, although Shadwell racing manager Angus Gold sounded a warning note over Almeraq lining in the big handicap on Saturday week.

“I was impressed with his performance and it’s good to see him come back to what we’d thought he might show,” Gold said.

“We always hoped last year that he would be a nice horse and he just had a few little niggles in the spring, which held William up when they wanted to get going with him.

“The only thing I would caution – I haven’t spoken to William, all options are open – but we’ve taken a long time and been very patient with him.

“Hopefully his future is all in front of him and hopefully in the autumn we will get some decent ground, so I’m not saying he won’t run at Goodwood, but I’d be surprised if he bounced straight back in after being so patient with him.

“It’s only 12 days away so let’s see. We’ll see what the weather does and see how he comes out of this.”

There was a shock in the opening racingtv.com/freetrial EBF Maiden Stakes as Chesham Stakes runner-up Thesecretadversary was beaten by debutant Rochfortbridge (28-1). Fozzy Stack’s colt went off as the 2-13 favourite, but he came out of the stalls slowly and was in the rear for much of the seven-furlong contest.

While Thesecretadversary came to the outside with two furlongs to go, Adrian Keatley’s charge proved too much as the 100,000 guineas buy claimed victory by three-quarters of a length, to leave his trainer eyeing up a tilt at the Acomb Stakes at York.