Carroll knows Titus is worth his salt
DECLAN CARROLL is keeping his options open with Ebor festival winner Titus.
He could run the smart stayer in Doncaster’s season-ending November Handicap after an eyecatching win in York’s Sky Bet Stakes under jockey Ger O’Neill.
And while Malton-based Carroll was encouraged by the horse’s fourth-place finish at Doncaster’s St Leger festival he already has next year’s £1m Ebor in mind if the horse is not sold in the meantime to compete in races like the Melbourne Cup in Australia.
“He ran a smashing race at Doncaster, he was probably slightly unlucky as he got caught on heels a furlong and a half out, which knocked him off rhythm a bit and cost him a length and a half, which was all he was beaten,” reported the trainer.
“He’ll improve, with a winter on his back he’ll get better, so we’re undecided whether he runs again this year. The option would be the November Handicap, but the prize money isn’t great. There’s also quite a bit of interest Down Under for him as a Melbourne Cup horse, so I just hope we can hold on to him.
“But on the other hand we want to think about next year’s Ebor as well; I had one rated 102 who didn’t get in this year so with £1m up for grabs it will be even harder to get in next year.”
Hambleton trainer Kevin Ryan’s classy colt Emaraaty Ana, winner of the Gimcrack Stakes at York, could reappear in the Group One Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.
“Emaraaty Ana is a very uncomplicated horse who has come out of his Gimcrack win in good form. He is fresh and well,” he said. “I don’t need to see the form book to know how good a horse he is. I have held him in the highest regard from a very early stage and he has never let us down.
“The Gimcrack-Middle Park Stakes double is something that I have pulled off before with Amadeus Wolf (2005) and Astaire (2013) and it just seemed the right way to go with him.
“I don’t like to compare my horses from different generations. Amadeus Wolf and Astaire were both very good horses in their own right as is this fellow. Emaraaty Ana is a simple, straightforward type.”
The Future Champions Day meeting could also see Settrington-based John Quinn’s Royal Ascot heroine, Signora Cabello, line up in the Cheveley Park Stakes for two-year-old fillies.
A new suite for racehorse owners and trainers, which also doubles as a first-class wedding, conference and corporate venue, is now open at Thirsk Racecourse following a £1.8m investment there.
Named The Chestnut Room, after the trees that border the east side of the racecourse, it has been described as one of the best facilities of its kind in the country by ITV racing presenter Ed Chamberlin.