Cachet geared up for 1,000 Guineas after surging to Nell Gwyn victory
George Boughey will “have a roll of the dice” in the hope of landing a first Group One and Classic success in the 1,000 Guineas next month after Cachet stretched two-and-a-half lengths clear of her rivals in the Group Three Nell Gwyn Stakes at Newmarket on Tuesday.
Cachet did not add to her debut win in a Newmarket maiden in May as a two-year-old last season but ran well in a series of Group races, finishing third in the Group One Fillies’ Mile and fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf, and stayed on well in the sevenfurlong contest after hitting the front well over two furlongs out.
As a daughter of Aclaim, whose offspring have an average winning distance of 6.1 furlongs, Cachet is not certain to get the mile in the Guineas but Boughey, who is in only his third full season with a licence, is eager to give her the chance.
“I kept saying at the back end of last year that she was slightly weak and she did incredibly well over the winter,” Boughey said. “She went to Del Mar and had 10 days on the walker and didn’t miss a day from then until now, which is a huge attribute for her.
“We’ve been able to get the work in when we’ve wanted and while she was fit today, she will step forward again. She’s obviously a high-class filly and we’ll come back here for the Guineas and give it a good go.
“The mile is the question mark, but she loves the track here which is a huge string to her bow. All systems go for the Guineas with this filly.”
Master Of The Seas, beaten a short-head by Poetic Flare in the 2,000 Guineas last year, returned to action as a four-year-old gelding with a comfortable success in the Earl Of Sefton Stakes.
Charlie Appleby’s four-year-old wore a hood in the preliminaries and was far more settled before and during the race than in several of his starts last season.
“I would be thinking, miss the Lockinge and work back from the Queen
Anne [at Royal Ascot],” Appleby said. “We could find a stepping stone, but if not I’d be happy to go straight to Ascot.”
Native on course for Craven glory
It is a rarity these days for last season’s champion two-year-old colt return to action in the Craven Stakes at Newmarket – Toormore, in 2014, was the last to do so – but Charlie Appleby feels that Native Trail (3.35), the clear favourite for the 2,000 Guineas on 30 April, will come on for the run ahead and it will be fascinating to see him step back on to the track on Wednesday afternoon.
Like Appleby’s Pinatubo, the outstanding juvenile of 2019, Native Trail concluded his two-year-old season with a wide-margin win in the National Stakes before following up in the Dewhurst on Future Champions day. That form gives today’s six opponents at least 17lb to find on Timeform’s ratings and while the last two odds-on shots for the Craven were beaten, it will be a bitterly disappointing opening to the new Flat campaign if Native Trail is a third.
Newmarket 1.15 Six of the nine runners are making their racecourse debut so it is very much one to watch with an eye on the future, but Ameynah showed enough on her debut over course and distance last year to suggest she should go close with normal improvement. Among the newcomers, Enshrine probably has the most interesting pedigree: her dam was a halfsister to the top-class US turf performer, Lady Eli.
Newmarket 1.50Pocket The Profit went from strength to strength in nurseries last season and took another big step forward on his return to action at Pontefract, winning by nearly five lengths easing down while still recording an excellent time. The ground was heavy there but he had strong winning form on good-to-soft last season and will be very hard to beat under a 6lb penalty.
Newmarket 2.25 The market could have plenty to say about these unraced three-year-olds and it is hardly a contest that demands a bet, but Archie Watson has a 24pc strike-rate and a healthy level-stakes profit with three-year-olds making their racecourse debut so Noble Anthem, a son of Starspangledbanner, could be one to consider.
Newmarket 3.00 Three-year-olds are a rarity in the Abernant Stakes the year’s first Group race of the year for sprinters, and Group One winners at two even more so. Ebro River leaps off the page as a result, not least as Hugo Palmer’s colt, who was four lengths behind the Native Trail in the National Stakes, does not carry a penalty for his earlier success in the Phoenix Stakes at The Curragh.