RAINBOW TO KEEP KING’S DREAM RUN GOING
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 on Saturday.
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 ofthe 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 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.
Judicial found just the now-retired Far Above too sharp on his seasonal bow, and should feel the benefit in the Betfair Backs Racing Welfare Chipchase Stakes.
Racing over five furlongs in the Palace House Stakes, Judicial just could not quite match Far Above for toe, but lost little in being beaten three-quarters of a length and should surely appreciate switching back to six furlongs now.
Limato returns to the fray at Newmarket and he can defend his crown in the Betway Criterion Stakes.
Now an eight-year-old, Limato is not totally straightforward. But when things fall his way, he can be hard to beat, particularly if conditions are on the quicker side.
Henry Candy’s charge was a game neck winner of this seven-furlong heat lastyear. He then failed to make his mark in three subsequent runs, but his second to Mustashry at the end of the campaign was no disgrace.
It could be he really needs a run to get going, but he has a little pull in the weights here that he could exploit.