Rainbow to land pot of gold in Newcastle feature
ALAN King enjoyed an exceptional Royal Ascot and can keep the bandwagon rolling with another big-race success in the Betfair Northumberland Plate at Newcastle.
The Barbury Castle trainer sent out three winners in Berkshire last week and has booked one of his Ascot-winning pilots in Hollie Doyle to team up with Rainbow Dreamer in the feature event today.
Doyle was also on board for the seven-year-old’s return at
Gosforth Park earlier this month, when he ran a very respectable fourth behind Nayef Road in the Group Three Sagaro Stakes.
The winner went on to prove best of the rest behind the exceptional Stradivarius in the Gold Cup, giving a very solid feel to Rainbow Dreamer’s five-length defeat over the same extended two miles he faces here.
He was very much up against it at the weights that day, so his effort is all the more meritorious, and the fact he had been cutting a swathe through the all-weather staying ranks previously adds further confidence to the selection for a yard which won this tough handicap last year.
This is theoretically an easier task than Rainbow Dreamer faced last time — and while he has a fair bit of weight to contend with, he could still prove a cut above.
Virgin Snow is bred to be something special as a daughter of Gleneagles out of the fantastic racemare Snow Fairy — and she can start to really come of age in the Betfair Exchange Hoppings Fillies’ Stakes.
She was thereabouts in two outings last year without winning, but soon righted that statistic with a convincing success on her return this term — admittedly, though, only in handicap company.
However, the manner of her victory on stepping up to 10 furlongs was quite taking, and the conditions of this Group Three give her every chance of gaining that all-important black type.
SELECTIONS
CURRAGH: 4.15 Timourid, 4.45 Trais Fluors, 5.15 Nullifier, 5.45 Raise You, 6.15 Colfer Me, 6.45 Frenetic, 7.15 Arthur’s Kingdom, 7.45 Falcon Eight.
LINGFIELD: 4.20 Cliffcake, 4.55 Irish Tweed, 5.25 Tabaahy, 5.55 Baby Steps, 6.30 Voltaic, 7.00 Dakota Moon, 7.30 Pioneering, 8.00 Helian.
NEWCASTLE: 12.15 Tilsit, 12.45 Toussarok, 1.15 Gunmetal, 1.50 Judicial, 2.25 Magical Spirit, 3.00 Virgin Snow, 3.35 RAINBOW DREAMER (NAP), 4.10 Al Kout, 4.40 Irish Times.
NEWMARKET: 1.30 Blown By Wind, 2.05 Boccaccio, 2.40 Limato, 3.15 Volkan Star, 3.50 Fruition, 4.25 Award Scheme, 5.00 Calm Down, 5.35 Walkonby.
REDCAR: 12.00 Nortonthorpe Boy, 12.30 Huraa, 1.05 Newgate Angel, 1.40 Watch Me, 2.15 My Boy Lewis, 2.50 Star Shield, 3.25 Born A King, 4.00 Bal Mal, 4.35 Compton’s Finale.
DOUBLE: Rainbow Dreamer and Limato.