Kameko can take the next step on road to stardom in Solario
Trainers are creatures of habit and having won the Betway Solario Stakes at Sandown Park five times, on the last three occasions with the subsequent Group One winners Raven’s Pass, Kingman and Too Darn Hot, the implication is that John Gosden must hold Kempton winner Eshaasy in high regard.
Maintaining the theme, Charlie Appleby also won this race two years ago with the subsequent Derby winner Masar and he runs Al Suhail, an easy winner of a four-horse race at Yarmouth, and the more experienced Full Verse.
The form horse in this race, traditionally a stepping stone to better things, is with the Clive Cox-trained Positive, an easy winner at Salisbury before finishing a five-length second to the outstanding Pinatubo, now Guineas favourite, at Goodwood, a race in which he had Visinari behind him.
However, as much as Cox likes Positive, it is the unexposed potential of Andrew Balding’s Qatar Racingowned Kameko, which catches the eye at the prices.
Balding’s juveniles are rarely revved up for their debut, so one imagines there is a lot more to come after his half-length defeat of It’s Good To Laugh over course and distance in July.
The pair were clear that day and the second has since won at Ffos Las. “It’s a big step up in class, but I like him a lot and he has been working well,” said Balding.
Kameko, who cost $90,000 (£74,000) at Keeneland last year, is by the American stallion Kitten’s Joy, the sire of the late-lamented Roaring Lion, who finally succumbed to colic while on stallion duties in New Zealand earlier this month.
Balding should not be too far away in the Atalanta Stakes either with Look Around, but she was beaten last time out by Gosden’s Duneflower at level weights and there is no reason why Duneflower should not win again.
If Cox is there or thereabouts at Sandown, he also has an excellent chance of winning the William Hill Beverley Bullet at the East Yorkshire course with Tis Marvellous, the comfortable winner of a rich handicap at Ascot on his last start.
In Ireland, the death of Stan Cosgrove has been announced. He was 91. Though he will probably be best remembered for being the vet involved in trying to get back Shergar, in whom he was a shareholder, after the kidnapping, he was a giant of the breeding world and managed Moyglare Stud from its outset in 1962.
Horses bred there included Assert, Stanerra, Refuse To Bend and the Melbourne Cup winner Media Puzzle.