Tag Archive for: james tate

Majestic Warrior aiming to realise long-term Ebor plan

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James Tate is hoping a long-term plan comes to fruition with Majestic Warrior in the Sky Bet Ebor at York on Saturday.

Successful in two of his first three races in 2023, the Churchill five-year-old then defied an absence of almost two years when bolting up at Thirsk in April.

Having seen his rating shoot up from 89 to 98, Tate has resisted the temptation to run since, instead electing to keep his powder dry for Europe’s richest Flat handicap.

“We’ve preserved his mark of 98, which we thought would get him in the race and give him the best chance I suppose,” said the Newmarket handler.

“The only concern is he doesn’t have as much experience as many of them in the field, but he’s in very good form, he’s a good horse and we’re looking forward to running him.

“We decided not to run him again after Thirsk and we’ll see if it’s a good plan halfway through Saturday afternoon.

“If he’d gone and won another small handicap he’d have been near enough top-weight, alternatively if we’d gone for a Listed race they’re probably worth £40,000 added most of those and this is £500,000 added, so we’ll give it a whirl and if it doesn’t work we can go somewhere else after.”

When asked whether he felt his charge was well handicapped, Tate added: “We hope so, but you don’t know do you? He’s a horse we’ve always liked, a mile and six (furlongs) will be his ideal trip, I would have thought, and I think he’d go on anything from good to soft to good to firm.”

Royal Dress scores in fine fashion at Pontefract

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Royal Dress justified strong market support with an emphatic victory in the Weatherbys Hamilton Pipalong Stakes at Pontefract.

James Tate’s mare won at Listed and Group Three level last season and kicked off the current campaign by finishing third behind See The Fire in the Middleton Stakes at York.

Having since placed fourth in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Epsom on Derby day, Royal Dress was a well-backed 85-40 favourite dropping back to Listed class in West Yorkshire and after being coaxed into contention by a confident Clifford Lee from the home turn, she finished off strongly once given her head to score by a widening three and a quarter lengths from Cheshire Dancer.

Tate told Racing TV: “We reinvented her last year as a mile/mile and one (furlong) filly with a hood and I just felt after her first two runs back maybe we didn’t need the hood any more, I think that really helped her in the last furlong or two.

“Cliff is a really good jockey, we always do really well together and he gave her a great ride. He made all the right decisions, to take her back a little bit early because they were going a strong pace, to angle out wide rather than riding for luck because he felt he was on the best horse in the race and we enjoyed the last furlong when he had a cheeky look round!”

Paddy Power cut Royal Dress to 16-1 from 25-1 for the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood on July 31 and Tate is not ruling out a tilt at Group One glory on the Sussex Downs.

“Do we try to win a Group Two or a Group Three, or do we try to go for an each-way run in one of the big races and say we finish in the first three that would be worth it for value, because she’s obviously a valuable, well-bred broodmare,” he added.

“I think we’ll just take each race as it comes and see how she is.”