By Tom Peacock
April and May's Classic trials usually help to form some order from the chaos as dozens of young 3-year-olds have their credentials tested more firmly. It is not only an important time for owners and trainers but for stallions, and no more so this year than for Frankel (GB).
Top of the list of promising maiden winners representing the sophomore sire will be Atty Persse (Ire), a first foal of Pretty Polly S. winner Dorcas Lane (GB) (Norse Dancer {Ire}).
Trained by Roger Charlton, he came good on his debut in a seven-furlong event at Sandown last September, beating subsequent winner Hamada (GB) by a length and three-quarters. Atty Persse then changed hands between his owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen and Godolphin. He is entered in the G1 Investec Derby.
“He's fine and there are no plans as yet,” reported Charlton. “Hopefully he'll be ready to run in mid-April. He was on the small side when he made his debut but he seems to have got stronger. It will be interesting to see how he stays, as there was stamina on the dam's side.”
Another Frankel that could be in contention for Epsom is Mirage Dancer (GB), who runs in the familiar colours of Khalid Abdullah. Somewhat appropriately, Bobby Frankel trained his dam Heat Haze (GB) (Green Desert) to success in the 2003 G1 Beverly D S. for Juddmonte. Sir Michael Stoute knows the family as he developed Mirage Dancer's useful siblings Radiator (GB) and Forge (GB).
The owner's racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe, said: “He won well at Doncaster in October and is a nice scopey horse who everyone seems pleased with. All the bubbles are there to be burst at this time of year, but hopefully he's an important bubble.”
Alongside the more experienced Fair Eva (GB), Juddmonte also has the John Gosden-trained Frankel filly Icespire (GB) in the G1 1000 Guineas. This half-sister to G1 Cheveley Park S. and Guineas heroine Special Duty (GB) was sent off the 6-4 favourite for her initiation at Salisbury on Oct. 10 and caught the eye when sweeping through the field and coming four lengths clear.
“She won very nicely in her maiden,” said Grimthorpe. “John has been very pleased with her and she's done well through the winter. She's got to go up a few paces now but she does look promising.”
Completing the collection for Abdullah and Gosden is Shutter Speed (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who is from another smart Juddmonte dynasty and was off the mark on soft ground over a mile at Yarmouth in mid-October.
Grimthorpe said: “She's a nice scopey filly who is in the Guineas, we'll have to have a think about that. I think ultimately she will make up into a mile and a quarter filly.”
Stoute enjoyed a conspicuous rise through 2016, his best season both numerically and financially for some time. Among his most interesting youngsters must be Frontispiece (GB) (Shamardal), a first foal of the Queen's three-time winner Free Verse (GB) (Danehill Dancer {IRE}). He nosed past Make Time (Ire), a well-regarded colt of David Menuisier's, over seven furlongs at Ascot on Sept. 3.
“Frontispiece is coming on but won't be rushed,” said the Queen's racing advisor, John Warren, of the Derby entry.
Ralph Beckett has proved one of the most adept trainers of fillies in the country in recent years, as advertised by the likes of Look Here (GB) and Simple Verse (Ire), and the latest from his Hampshire production line could very well be Crimson Rock (Fastnet Rock {Aus}). She was given a typically steady preparation and won over a mile at Newbury in late October. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani's filly is out of Sadler's Wells mare Maryinsky (Ire), hence a half-sister to Group 1 stars Peeping Fawn and Thewayyouare.
“She was a very backward 2-year-old, most of her family didn't do much at two and Peeping Fawn never ran, so it was very much against the curve that she won at Newbury, both on the day and in the race,” said Beckett. “However, she was always one that we thought would get there in the end.
“She is doing very well and we will probably start her off in an Oaks trial, I'm not sure which one yet. I don't think she'll be starting off at less than a mile and a quarter.”
Talaayeb (GB) (Dansili {GB}) already takes a prominent position in the market for the 1000 Guineas and stands as a great hope of this year for Owen Burrows at Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's Lambourn set-up. From the family of Ghanaati and Nashwan, Talaayeb overcame a little trouble to draw clear over seven furlongs at Newmarket on Sept. 24.
Burrows said: “She's in work now and we're looking to give her a run to start her off before the Guineas. We're at a bit of a difficult stage as she wouldn't want to be running on soft ground so we'll have to keep a close eye on the weather. We'd certainly be looking at Newmarket and Newbury and see what the ground is like.
“She's not the biggest but she has strengthened up well. She should stay, looking at her family and we don't see her as being just a miler. Although her work was good, she did surprise us a little in winning on her debut, and with the amount of speed she showed, but that can only be a good thing.”
There seems to be a positive word around Newmarket for G1 2000 Guineas entry Cape Byron (GB) (Shamardal), who is related to Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's very capable if somewhat quirky Afsare (GB).
“He's been going nicely,” said trainer Roger Varian. “He won a seven-furlong maiden at Newmarket in the autumn on what was only his second start. He'd be a miler, maybe a mile-and-a-quarter horse, and he's from a good family. He's a proper-looking horse, but at the moment he's only a maiden winner. He will hopefully be out in the spring.”
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