Sphere Of Expertise

Saturday's G2 Hardwicke S. features the usual strong representation from Sir Michael Stoute, who holds the record of nine winners with six coming remarkably in the last 10 years. There was a touch of Harbinger (GB) about the success of his main hope Exosphere (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}) in the G2 Jockey Club S. over this trip at Newmarket Apr. 30, even if that form has a large question mark over it. Sauntering to a four-length dismissal of the subsequent G1 Coronation Cup flop Simple Verse (Ire) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}) there, Khalid Abdullah's relative of Tenby (GB) (Caerleon) looks like the kind of improving older horse that has been the staple of Freemason Lodge for more than two decades. “He had been working nicely going into the Jockey Club S. but, with two Classic winners in there, we were far from confident,” Juddmonte's Abdullah's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe explained. “He follows a pretty well-trodden Sir Michael Stoute pathway and we were very happy with the way he quickened and put the race to bed. This was always the plan, to come here. I don't think he would mind ease in the ground, but I am not sure he would want it very soft. Certainly Beat Hollows go in that ground and he is in good shape. I think if you said to me last time that he would have beaten two Classic winners I would have been surprised, but he worked exceptionally well beforehand and although it doesn't always translate on track, it worked out well. He has got to prove it again, but he is going the right way and this is an important stepping stone.”

Also from the stable is Dartmouth (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who lacks the finesse of Exosphere but who carries extra weight as The Queen's representative. His hard-working win in a substandard renewal of the G3 Ormonde S. over an extended 13-furlong trip at Chester last time May 6 suggests he will be hard to keep out of the frame without having the necessary gear to win. Olivier Peslier has the Royal booking and he said, “He is a nice horse. Sir Michael Stoute is very confident and says that he has a good chance. I hope I win for The Queen. It is her meeting. Riding for her, I am very pleased and if I win it will be superb. The race is very tough and we will have to see what the conditions are like. I hope the ground is not too sticky.”

Last year's Hardwicke runner-up Eagle Top (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), who also filled that same position when narrowly denied by Postponed (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. over this same course and distance in July, has to turn around a growing familial tendency to break slowly, and that cost him his chance when fourth to Astronereus (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) in the G3 Aston Park S. over this trip at Newbury May 14. Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier and Michael Tabor's Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) would need livelier ground than this to replicate his international wins in last year's GI Secretariat S. in August and G1 Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin in December, having failed to get involved on a yielding surface when eighth last time in the G1 QEII Cup back at Sha Tin Apr. 24.

Interestingly, Saeed bin Suroor pitches the May 12 G2 Middleton S. winner Beautiful Romance (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) in against the colts and Simple Verse, who she trailed when third in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. over this course and distance in October. “Beautiful Romance is a tough filly who showed her true form when winning the Middleton S. on her most recent start,” the trainer said. “She has also shown good form at Ascot and likes soft ground. I am looking forward to seeing her run well.”