Having dealt with some of the major stables's chief hopes in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot June 20, Rajasinghe (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}) has to do it again under a three-pound penalty in Newmarket's G2 Arqana July S. on Thursday. Trained by Richard Spencer for Phil Cunningham's Rebel Racing, the unbeaten colt may not have won a vintage renewal of that race but he has yet to find a rival to match him and his connections put him in this after he emerged bouncing from his toughest assignment to date.
“Rajasinghe came out of Ascot really well and I'd like to think that he is thriving,” Spencer said. “He has put on weight and seems to be in a really good place. He does have a three-pound penalty to carry, but hopefully he will keep progressing and be able to overcome that. He had to do it the hard way at Ascot and he's a very versatile horse, so I don't think whatever rain we get before the race or the undulating course at Newmarket will be a problem for him. It is a long time between Royal Ascot and the Prix Morny at Deauville near the end of August. So we thought, provided he was fit and well, why keep him locked up in his box?”
Another Royal Ascot winner was Godolphin's Sound and Silence (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), who took the Listed Windsor Castle S. over five furlongs on the same card. Upped in trip for the first time, the bay is bred to need at least this distance and trainer Charlie Appleby is confident he will not be compromised by it. “After Ascot we thought we would keep him at five furlongs, but on his home evidence and how well he relaxes, we thought we would try six,” he said. “He was not stopping when he hit the line at Ascot and it is a long wait until Goodwood. The only reason we are stepping him up is that, on pedigree, there is no reason why he shouldn't get a bit further. We might as well go up there, ride him patiently and see if he gets six. If he does it opens up other options for the rest of the season, if he doesn't we can drop him back to five for the Molecomb.”
Most of the field is made up of colts who have shown potential but who have not yet gained the substance of the Ascot runners. Saeed Manana's Invincible Army (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) was the impressive five-length winner of a course-and-distance maiden June 23 and is made for this track being out of the owner-breeder's G1 Falmouth S. heroine Rajeem (GB) (Diktat {GB}). Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum has won two of the last five renewals and is represented this time by the Owen Burrows-trained Enjazaat (GB) (Acclamation {GB}). Successful by six lengths over this trip at Yarmouth last time June 6, he is held in high regard.
“We are stepping him up from a maiden, but we have always liked him and his work has been nice,” his trainer said. “He looks well and is in good form and we will know where we stand after this. I don't think anything has run out of that race so I don't know what sort of form it is, but he could do no more than win like he did.”
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