Tag Archive for: Park Hill Stakes

Scenic viewed as leading Park Hill contender by Walker

Ed Walker raises the sights of his impressive York scorer Scenic for the Betfred Park Hill Fillies’ Stakes at Doncaster on Thursday.

After opening her account on her seasonal debut at Kempton in the spring, the daughter of Lope De Vega was well held in a Group Three at Haydock and a Listed event at Pontefract, but fared better when stepped up to just shy of two miles at Deauville in July – beaten only a neck into third place.

The four-year-old dropped back to a mile and a half for the Galtres Stakes on the Knavesmire last month and charged home off a fast pace to win comprehensively, earning her a shot at Group Two honours on day one of the St Leger Festival.

Walker said: “I think she’s in good nick, it probably comes a little bit sooner than ideal but she seems very well and looks great.

“We’re hopeful of a big run and I think stepping back up in trip to one-mile-six (furlongs) will actually suit her better than a mile and a half, so it’s really exciting.

“Oisin Murphy gave her a great ride at York – he was very patient and they went very hard. She may have been flattered a little bit, but we’ll see. She’ll run her race anyway.”

Tom Marquand takes over in the saddle aboard Scenic, with Murphy jumping ship to partner Night Sparkle for Andrew Balding.

Night Sparkle disappointed in this race 12 months ago on what was her first start for the Balding team, but has run several good races in defeat this season – filling the runner-up spot in the Coral Marathon and the Lillie Langtry Stakes before placing fourth behind Vauban in York’s Lonsdale Cup.

“She’s been training really well and I thought I hit the front a bit too soon on her at York last time,” said Murphy.

“It looks a decent opportunity for her, she’s one of the top-rated horses.

“I thought Mistral Star and Scenic both deserve to be spoken about, as Mistral Star has been running in decent races and Scenic was good at York, but it would mean a lot to me if I could win on Night Sparkle.”

The Hughie Morrison-trained Mistral Star was also in action at York’s Ebor meeting, finishing fourth in the Yorkshire Oaks, and is now stepped up to a mile and three-quarters for the first time.

Hughie Morrison trains Mistral Star
Hughie Morrison trains Mistral Star (John Walton/PA)

Morrison said: “I hope she’ll stay. There aren’t any Group races over a mile and a half and at this time of year, you’ve slightly got to go when you can.

“She didn’t like the ground at Ayr and she was unlucky at Haydock earlier in the year. She won well at Newmarket and ran well at York, so hopefully we’ve got a good chance.”

Paul and Oliver Cole’s Sumo Sam was an impressive winner of the Park Hill last season and has been declared to defend her crown.

However, conditions are unlikely to be as testing this time around and connections plan to walk the track before confirming her participation.

“We’re going to look at the ground in the morning and see if it’s alright for her. If it’s not, we’ll go to Salisbury on Friday. She’s in amazing form,” said Oliver Cole.

Oxford Comma is an interesting contender for Ralph Beckett, stepping up in class after back-to-back novice wins at Salisbury and at this venue in May and June respectively.

“Her absence has not been due to anything untoward, it’s just circumstances have conspired against us really,” said Alex Elliott, racing adviser to Valmont, who own the filly in partnership with Ballylinch Stud.

“She wouldn’t want fast ground and we’ve just had to wait. When she won her novice at Doncaster previously, we thought she might be a Park Hill filly and we would have liked to get a run into her in between, it just hasn’t happened for her.

“It will be a big ask for her jumping up in grade but she’s a filly we really like and we think she will be even better next year. We will find out a bit more about her on Thursday.”



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Doncaster TV Trends: Thursday 12th Sept 2024

The ITV cameras head to Doncaster racecourse in the middle of September (12th-15th) for the 4-day St Leger Meeting – they will be covering races on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday – with races spread across both ITV and ITV4.

As always, here at GeeGeez, we’ve got it all covered with all the TV race trends and stats – these should help narrow down the fields and also highlight the best profiles of horses that have done well in the races in the past.

Thursday 12th September 2024

1:50 - British Stallion Studs EBF Fillies´ Stakes (Nursery Handicap) Cl2 6f110y ITV4

21/21 – Had raced in the last 7 weeks
19/21 – Carried 9-3 or less
18/21 – Rated 74 or higher
17/21 – Placed third or better last time out
17/21 – Had won at least one race before
15/21 – Won by a Feb or Mar-born foal
15/21 – Had won over 6f or 7f before
14/21 – Placed favourites
10/21 – Came from a double-figure stall
10/21 – Won last time out
7/21 – Winning favourites
5/21 – Had run at Doncaster before
2/21– Won by the Hannon team
2/21 – Won by the Richard Fahey team
2/21 – Won by the Paul Cole yard
2/21 – Trained by Karl Burke (2 of the last 7)
7 of the last 8 winners came from stalls 7 or lower

2.25 - Weatherbys Scientific £200,000 2-Y-O Stakes (GBB Race) Cl2 6f110y ITV4

19/20 – Raced within the last 5 weeks
16/20 – Finished 5th or better last time out
15/20 – Yet to win over 6 ½ or 7f
15/20 – Won between 1-2 times
13/20 – Winning distance – 1 length or less
11/20 – Won from a double-figure stall
11/20 – Raced at York last time out
11/20 – Placed favourites
10/20 – Foaled in Jan or Feb
6/20 – Won last time out
4/20 – Winning favourites
4/20 – Placed horses from stall 1
3/20 – Trained by Richard Fahey (including 2 or the last 10 runnings)
2/20 – Had raced at Doncaster before
2/20 – Trained by Brian Meehan
2/20 – Won by a filly
2/20 – Trained by Andrew Balding (2 of the last 5)
2/20 - Trained by Roger Varian (2 of the last 7)
2/20– Trained by Kevin Ryan (2 of last 11)
1/20 – Irish-trained winners
12 of the last 17 winners carried 8-12 or less in weight

3.00 – Betfred May Hill Stakes (Group 2) Cl1 1m ITV4

20/22 – Had 1 or 2 previous career wins
20/22 – Had won over 7f+ before
20/22 – Won by a Feb, Mar or April foal
18/22 – Had 2 or more previous career runs
15/22 – Won last time out
10/22 – Ran at Newmarket last time out
9/22 – Drawn in stalls 1 or 2
8/22 – Winning favourites
4/22 – Won by a Godolphin-owned horse
4/22 – Trained by John Gosden
2/22 – Trained by Richard Hannon
2/22 – Trained by Karl Burke (2 of the last 7)
13 of the last 18 winners returned 4/1 or shorter in the betting
Trainer Aidan O’Brien has only won the race once (2018)

3.35 – Betfred Park Hill Stakes (Group 2) (Fillies & Mares) Cl1 1m6f132y ITV4

19/21 – Aged 3 or 4 years-old
18/21 – Returned 8/1 or shorter in the betting
18/21 – Drawn in stall 8 or lower
17/21 – Ran within the last 6 weeks
16/21 – Won no more than 4 times before
15/21 – Came from the top 3 in the betting
14/21 – Placed favourites
12/21 – Previous Group winners
10/21 – Had run at Doncaster before
9/21 – Had won over at least 1m6f before
8/21 – Irish bred
8/21 – Won last time out
7/21 – Winning favourites
6/21 – Won the Lillie Langtry (Goodwood) that season
6/21 – Raced at Goodwood last time out
4/21 – Trained by John Gosden
2/21 – Ridden by Ryan Moore
2/21 – Trained by Sir Michael Stoute
2/21 – Trained by Ralph Beckett (2 of the last 8)
Trainer Aidan O’Brien has never won this race

4:10 – Pertemps Network Handicap Cl2 (3yo 0-105)

Just one past running
Trainer Marco Botti won the race in 2023
Trainer Eve Johnson Houghton has a 50% SR with his 3 year-olds at the track
Trainer Sir Michael Stoute has a 30% SR with his 3 year-olds at the track
Trainer Ed Walker has a 25% SR with his 3 year-olds at the track
Trainer Owen Burrows has a 25% SR with his 3 year-olds at the track
Trainer John Gosden has a 24% SR with his 3 year-olds at the track
Trainer Hugo Palmer has just a 4% SR with his 3 year-olds at the track
Trainer Simon Crisford has just a 4% SR with his 3 year-olds at the track

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