STRAD SET TO CALL THE TUNE
THINGS have been going well recently. Canada was great, I had three nice winners for Charlie (Appleby) over there.
Paris was great too, with two Group 1s and another big race for
Saeed (bin Suroor).
Now it’s all systems go for Champions Day at Ascot. I would have thought it would ride good-to-soft in the straight and soft down the back, but it’s probably the best conditions we have had for a long time on Champions Day.
I again ride STRADIVARIUS (1.25) in the Long Distance Cup
He takes his racing well and is ready for a rematch with Trueshan, having lost to him in Paris. I have great respect for Trueshan, who is a very good horse under extreme conditions, but now the ground is going to be better at Ascot that will help bridge the gap.
I remember winning the Champions Sprint Stakes as an 18-year-old on Chummy’s Favourite for Neville Callaghan. He was 40-1 and it was one of my first Group winners.
Then on Diffident, who was the second winner in my magnificent seven in 1996. Today, I ride
Ralph Beckett’s (below) KINROSS (2.00).
We’ve been campaigning him over seven furlongs to a mile, but I think the stiff six at Ascot will be up his street. The softer the ground the better for him.
Mark Of Distinction, who I won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on in 1990, was the first Group 1 winner of my career, so he was my favourite winner of this race. Dubai Millennium was the best of my five QEII winners, though.
I love PALACE PIER (3.10). The only race in which he has been beaten is this one last year, when he lost a shoe and I got squeezed out at the start. So it was a massive run to come third.
I have almighty respect for Baaeed, but Palace Pier is a champion and probably one of the best milers I have ridden.
In the Balmoral Handicap (4.30), SUNRAY MAJOR has loads of potential but, unfortunately, we’re in stall 21 and we’ll need plenty of luck from there. A low draw is key at this time of year.