Tag Archive for: Time For Sandals

Harry Eustace relishing Sprint Cup test for Time For Sandals

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Harry Eustace is keen to find out where his Royal Ascot winner Time For Sandals ranks against the best six-furlong sprinters in Europe when she contests the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock.

Winner of the Commonwealth Cup against her own age, she then dropped down to five furlongs at Goodwood against her elders, finishing a three-quarter-length third.

Back up to her favoured trip this weekend, she is second favourite in most lists behind Lazzat.

“It’s a positive for us they didn’t get much rain and while it’s a tough race, we’re looking forward to seeing where we fit in,” said Eustace.

“It was nice to see her back up at Goodwood against the older ones over what isn’t really her trip having done it at Ascot against her own age.

“We’ll find out now where we really fit in against the best over six furlongs.

“The draw (two) is fair, I’d rather be drawn closer to a few more fancied runners but we can’t do much about that, so we’ll see how we go. We are at least next to Sayidah Dariyan and we might have to look after ourselves.”

Lazzat was also a winner at Royal Ascot and went close to following up in the Prix Maurice de Gheest for trainer Jerome Reynier.

“Lazzat has been staying in Deauville for the last month. We are very happy with him and he did his last piece of work on the straight course on the racecourse last Saturday. That was very nice – he moved well and behaved well. We were very happy, and he looks amazing physically. We can only hope for the best,” said Reynier.

Lazzat impressed at Royal Ascot
Lazzat impressed at Royal Ascot (David Davies/PA)

“He was racing after 50 days (since Ascot) and we brought him to Deauville five days prior to the race and I think he became a bit fresh between his travelling and the race. When he won the Maurice de Gheest last year, we came the day before.

“On Saturday, he is running after 27 days off and will be travelling the day before. I think he has done enough work to make sure he won’t be too fresh and keen.

“He is a horse that’s happy in any kind of routine. He’s travelled the world and been in quarantine, so is very versatile and can adapt himself to any kind of conditions, so he’s very easy to deal with. He gets on well with his morning rider, Franck Blondel, a former champion jockey. As long as he has Franck with him, he is happy to visit the world.”

Richard Hughes’ No Half Measures is bidding for a Group One double following her surprise win in the July Cup.

“It was a brilliant day in the July Cup. We were hoping she would run well, but on that (quick) ground we didn’t think it would be possible to win,” said Hughes.

“I thought she would need it softer to be able to overcome that level of horse, but she went and proved she can do it on any ground.

“Ryan (Moore) kept saying she is really good over five furlongs but I thought she might be able to excel if she could travel over a bit further, and she hasn’t let me down.

“She is improving, and although she was beaten on her first start over six furlongs, she hasn’t been beaten over it since.”

Hughes also runs Sayidah Dariyan.

The William Haggas-trained Sky Majesty was supplemented for the race after winning in Ireland the last twice, having landed Group races at Ayr and Chantilly on contrasting conditions last term.

Sky Majesty (right) winning at Ayr last season
Sky Majesty (right) winning at Ayr last season (Steve Welsh/PA)

Sean Graham, racing manager to her co-owner Tony Bloom, said: “William has been very happy with her since Naas and her best run last year was at Chantilly when she won on heavy ground.

“She just hadn’t come to herself when she ran first time out at Chelmsford and although she improved significantly for that run, she probably still wasn’t where William would have wanted her at Royal Ascot (in the Commonwealth Cup).

“The ground was very quick that day and maybe she just didn’t let herself down on it either and she has won twice at Naas since and looks a million dollars, so we’re looking forward to taking our chance.”

Davison eager for Nunthorpe challenge with She’s Quality

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Jack Davison has the Nunthorpe in his sights for She’s Quality after another sprint near-miss in the King George Qatar Stakes at Goodwood.

The filly arrived on the South Downs having been second in three consecutive starts this season, all of which were Group events on British soil over five furlongs.

She was a 9-1 shot under James Ryan and just fell short once again, missing out by only a neck as Jm Jungle prevailed.

“She’s a super filly, that’s four seconds at the highest level,” said Davison.

“Hopefully it’ll all come good in the Nunthorpe, 37 millimetres of rain probably didn’t help her but I’m very proud of her.

“I think she’s by far the best the sprinter in Ireland, it’s a pleasure to have her. It’s a pleasure to bring her over here to compete against the best the UK has to offer.

“She’s only four, she’s improving. I like my horses to be ridden with cover and to come from slightly off the pace, she’s learning all that now.

“It’s a step in the right direction, she was right up there with the best horses in the world and we’re looking forward to the Nunthorpe.”

Behind She’s Quality in third was Harry Eustace’s Time For Sandals, winner of the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot when last seen before stepping down to five furlongs at Goodwood.

“Today was to see how competitive she could be under those conditions, under a penalty and back to five furlongs,” said Eustace.

“It’s a sharp track and she certainly looked at home. Over five you need everything to go right and she just couldn’t quite get herself into the gap that she needed to.

“She had another go at them, which is pretty unusual, so I’m very happy.

“My gut feeling watching that was Haydock (for the Sprint Cup), she’s looked more at home over six and really travelled.

“We’ll let the dust settle, I don’t think she’ll go to York. She’s a three-year-old filly and I’m just very keen to mind her.

“It’s all about having a healthy horse next year and if we upset that by being greedy this year that would really annoy me, we’ll try not to do that.”

Henry Dwyer’s Australian sprint star Asfoora was out of the money in seventh, with her trainer saying: “Similar to Ascot (fifth in the King Charles III Stakes), she’s run good without being great.

“I just feel there have been things against her both times and we haven’t had the rub of the green. We’re gearing up towards a good run at York, but just not having the right luck at the moment.

“She probably peaked there around 100 metres out, which we thought she would fitness wise. I’m happy enough, but she just needs to keep taking those steps which I’m confident she will.

“It will be on to York now, assuming she pulls up well.”

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.”