Tag Archive for: Harry Eustace

Eustace’s Ascot heroes hunting more glory at Goodwood

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Harry Eustace could be in line for another week to remember as stable stars Docklands and Time For Sandals prepare for their respective targets at the Qatar Goodwood Festival.

Both horses shone at Group One level at Royal Ascot in June, with Docklands kicking off the meeting with a surprise 16-1 success in the Queen Anne Stakes before Time For Sandals came to the fore at 25-1 in the Commonwealth Cup.

Docklands now heads for the Sussex Stakes on the South Downs next week, where he will face an incredibly strong field that includes dual Group One-winner Field Of Gold.

“Docklands has been super since the race and seems to have come out of it very well. He has done a couple of bits of work since,” said Eustace.

“He obviously came out of it race-fit, so it’s getting him into Goodwood in as good a form as we got him into Ascot.

“We are under no illusions regarding the opposition. We take on the three-year-olds, particularly Field of Gold, which will be the toughest opponent he’s faced so far, but he’s in as good a place as we have ever had him.”

Docklands has been ridden by various jockeys in the past and was something of a chance ride for Mark Zahra at Royal Ascot, with Tom Marquand now set to get the leg up as those former partners are unavailable.

Eustace confirmed: “Tom Marquand will ride in the Sussex. Mark rode him at Ascot and Richard (Kingscote, who rode on his first two starts this year) is off to Hong Kong.

“Finding someone who can commit over two or three races this year is difficult for a yard our size, but I’m obviously keen to get the best available. I have a good relationship with Tom through my time with William Haggas and I think he’ll suit him well.”

Time For Sandals is taking aim at the King George Qatar Stakes at Goodwood, a step back to five furlongs for the first time since her juvenile season.

Prior to Ascot the filly was second by just a head in the Prix Texanita at Chantilly, a performance that has developed into a good line of form as the winner, Woodshauna, landed the Group One Prix Jean Prat next time out.

Eustace said of his runner: “She’s come out of Ascot particularly well. It was a big effort and the extra few weeks have really helped her.

“The Chantilly form has worked out very well and the winner of that has won the Prix Jean Prat, so her form is beginning to stack up stronger than people maybe thought it did on the day.

“Goodwood, almost more so than Ascot, can be quite a tough place to travel horses because of the box journey up to the racetrack. Mentally, it asks more questions than Ascot, but both she and Docklands mentally are very strong so that part of it I have no concerns about, so it’s a real asset for them.”

Champions Day seen as an ‘obvious’ target for Docklands

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Queen Anne winner Docklands will have an Ascot return on his agenda as he looks set to spend the remainder of the season on British soil.

Harry Eustace’s five-year-old is owned by the Australian outfit OTI Racing, and was campaigned internationally over the winter before returning to Newmarket.

His early campaign revolved around Ascot, a track he clearly favours and shone at again with a tough Group One victory over Rosallion.

The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is therefore the late-season target over the same course and distance, with a European campaign the likely focus in the meantime.

Harry Eustace celebrates after winning the Queen Anne Stakes with Docklands
Harry Eustace celebrates after winning the Queen Anne Stakes with Docklands (David Davies/PA)

“The obvious thing to do would be to work backwards from Champions Day at Ascot, there’s also the Prix Jacques le Marois and the Sussex Stakes,” said Eustace.

“He takes his racing well, he ran 10 days before Ascot at Epsom so I don’t necessarily want or need to space his racing out a lot.

“He put in a huge performance at Ascot, but he’s a five-year-old and if there was ever a year where we can campaign him more aggressively then this is it.

“We were waiting to see how Ascot panned out before we began plotting where’d he go next, but the one thing we know he won’t do is go to Australia.”

Time For Sandals winning the Commonwealth Cup under Richard Kingscote
Time For Sandals winning the Commonwealth Cup under Richard Kingscote (John Walton/PA)

Eustace had two Group One winners across Royal Ascot, the second being Time For Sandals after her 25-1 strike in the Commonwealth Cup.

She has a host of top level sprints on her radar, though connections anticipate next year will be a busier campaign as she started her season this time relatively early.

“She’s great and seems to have come out of it really well,” he said of the filly.

“We hadn’t really thought past Ascot with her because we were pitching her in a Group One and we knew it’d tell us how to campaign her for the rest of season.

“Now she’s a Group One winner, she’s got to run in Group One races so races like the Flying Five, the Nunthorpe and the Haydock Sprint Cup are all obvious targets.

“She was up and running early enough for the Fred Darling so I don’t think we’ll be campaigning her aggressively this year.

“We’ll very much look at the older sprint programme next year, it sort of writes itself.”

Time For Sandals pulls off Commonwealth Cup shock

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Harry Eustace’s fine Royal Ascot continued when Time For Sandals blazed her way to Commonwealth Cup glory.

The Newmarket handler struck for the very first time in Group One company with Docklands in the Queen Anne Stakes and wasted little time doubling that tally with a filly who was registering just her second career victory – and first since her debut last year.

Sent off at 25-1 in the hands of Richard Kingscote, she cruised to the front on the far side with a furlong to run and showed great resolve to edge out Arizona Blaze by a neck with the supplemented Rayevka half a length further back in third.

“It’s the first time she’s had a fast horse to follow, I don’t want to say (we were) very confident, but we felt like we hadn’t seen the best from her for one reason or another,” said Eustace.

Time For Sandals came from the supposedly disadvantaged far side of the track
Time For Sandals came from the supposedly disadvantaged far side of the track (John Walton/PA)

“The voice is in dire straits, I can assure you of that! She’s always shaped to be pretty good and at home we felt we had excuses for her; she never ran a bad one, she was always right there but hadn’t quite put it all together.

“We were always confident in a race like this where there would be fast horses taking her along, that’s really what she needed; don’t get me wrong, we didn’t dream that we’d get here, but she was always pretty good.”

He added: “It’s been extraordinary (the meeting), but that’s the team at home, it’s all the little things all the way through and I can’t thank them enough. The owners will be in there, they’re relatively new, this is the second ever horse they’ve had and they’re pretty lucky people.”

Kingscote – who won the Derby for Sir Michael Stoute on Desert Crown in 2022 – said: “I’ve had nice horses to ride since Sir Michael retired, it was always going to be a year of building back up, I had a nice bit of support and I’m delighted to get on a filly like her.

“Last year she was a very unlucky placed horse in the Super Sprint and she progressed all the way through. She was unlucky last time I felt.

“She did a spectacular piece of work a couple of weeks ago at Newmarket and I’m delighted to ride Harry a big winner because he’s a gentleman and his yard is such a happy yard.

“I’m delighted, he’s a lovely man and his staff are always so positive and happy so it’s great to get them a nice winner. He’s only just trained his 100th winner, so I’d say two Group Ones at Royal Ascot is pretty special to him.”

Arizona Blaze (purple) ran a stormer for Adrian Murray
Arizona Blaze (purple) ran a stormer for Adrian Murray (Damien Eagers/PA)

Arizona Blaze may have been 28-1, but did not surprise trainer Adrian Murray with his huge performance, with the Irish handler now eyeing a tilt at York’s Nunthorpe Stakes later in the summer.

“Big run, but he never runs a bad race. He always turns up on the day so I’m delighted with him,” said Murray.

“He’s very reliable. When he came home the last day he was a bit flat within himself, so he probably was a bit under the weather when he ran, we put that behind us and we were very confident of a good run.

“It was a huge price, I couldn’t believe it!

“I think we’ll go for the Nunthorpe, he’s in the July Cup as well but I think we’ll look at York.”

Docklands denies Rosallion in Queen Anne thriller

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Docklands narrowly got the better of Rosallion in a thrilling climax to the Queen Anne Stakes.

A strong field of 10 runners went to post for the traditional Royal Ascot curtain-raiser, with the market dominated by the first four home in last month’s Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.

Rosallion, who finished third at Newbury, was the 5-2 favourite to get back on the winning trail and looked set to oblige after being produced with a well-timed run by Sean Levey, but having been last out of the starting stalls before fighting his way to the front, Harry Eustace’s 14-1 shot Docklands refused to bend under Australian jockey Mark Zahra and clung on by a nose.

Cairo, who was sent off a 100-1 shot, was a further length and three-quarters back in third.

Docklands boasts a fine record at Ascot having won twice and placed four times, including when chasing home Charyn in this event 12 months ago – a run which persuaded Eustace to have another crack at the prize this year.

The trainer said: “I know everyone says this but I don’t know if it will sink in for a bit! There were a lot of nerve-wracking moments during the race, I have to say.

“I wasn’t happy with the pace early on, he did his usual thing and was a step slow and I kept cursing him. But he’s an absolute star, he loves this racetrack and because they went slow, they probably got racing a bit further out.

“It’s very special. When he was second here, we knew we were coming back for another go.

“At the furlong marker I thought Rosallion was really coming to us, but he was so brave in that last furlong. He has been frustrating, but only because I’ve felt he maybe deserved to win the odd race that he should have done, but luckily he loves this track.”

Docklands returns to the Ascot winner's enclosure
Docklands returns to the Ascot winner’s enclosure (PA)

Docklands is owned by the Australian group OTI Racing and had previously been ridden by Zahra when unplaced in last year’s Hong Kong Mile, with Richard Kingscote partnering him in two British starts this term.

Explaining Zahra’s booking, Eustace added: “It’s just all come together, as racing does, it all happened well. I feel for Richard Kingscote who has been on him the last couple of times – there’s no drama there, it’s just that Mark has had this lined up for a little while.

“In a curious way, he got trapped in a pocket at Epsom and didn’t have a hard race, and came here spot on. I’m glad he got beat at Epsom and won at Ascot.

“There were multiple Group One winners in there, the Guineas winners from last year, we were the most exposed horse probably, but he loves the track. That’s a big, big plus – and he tries bloody hard!”

Zahra admitted his Royal Ascot ride was a stop-off en route to a planned holiday in Ibiza, but the Australian pilot was delighted to make his mark at the world-famous fixture.

He said: “He just kept finding, he’s a very tough horse and he obviously loves this track. Harry’s done a great job and no better feeling in the world.

“Hearing all the Aussies over the fence, even though the horse is English you’d have thought he was Aussie by all the screams. What an amazing experience for unbelievable people.

“He’s (Harry Eustace) been pumping me up the whole way. I just started this meeting for a trip on the way to Ibiza, so for it to turn into a massive win like this is just very special. The closer we got the more he filled me with confidence and he was right.

“Both his runs this season have been really good. I rode him in Hong Kong and just looking at him in the field, he’s a completely different horse today.”