More Thunder holds on for Bunbury Cup glory

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William Haggas will test the water at Group-race level before the season is out with More Thunder following his narrow success in the bet365 Bunbury Cup at Newmarket.

More Thunder was a 6-5 favourite to get back on the winning trail in this £100,000 contest and having been dropped out last by Tom Marquand early on, he was angled towards the stands’ rail to mount his challenge and quickened up smartly to challenge for the lead.

Last year’s winner Aalto, a 40-1 shot to successfully defend his crown, bounced back from an uninspiring run of form to make a real race of it inside the last of seven furlongs and the pair flashed by the post almost as one, but it was More Thunder who had his head down where it mattered, with the judge confirming him the winner by a nose.

Haggas said: “I need to watch it again, but for me they didn’t go fast at all and he struggled to get momentum. I think he’s better going fast and Tom came in and said ‘if you run him over this trip again, they need to go hard’. Six furlongs, he feels, is his best trip.”

More Thunder holds big-race entries in major handicaps and Pattern races and it is clear his trainer is keen to see him compete in Group One company at some stage.

When asked if he had thought about running in the July Cup later in the afternoon, Haggas added: “We considered it strongly, but we also wanted to go up to seven furlongs at some stage and this was an opportunity to do so.

“That is why he came here, but we will have a crack at a six-furlong stakes race. He just needs pace this horse, but in six-furlong Group races, you’ll see in the July Cup, they don’t go slow!

“He could run in another handicap, but I think he deserves a shot at a good race now.”

Saba Desert swoops for Superlative strike

Saba Desert overcame a bumpy start to lift the bet365 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket.

The chestnut was ridden by William Buick and bunny hopped out of his stall to find himself on the back foot early on, but quickly put that behind him to settle to the task as a 6-1 chance.

Plenty of his rivals began to hang to the left and Saba Desert was inclined to follow them, but still his class came to the fore and he was a length and a quarter ahead of the 4-6 favourite Italy when crossing the line.

Wild Desert, who like the winner is trained by Charlie Appleby, was a further neck back in third and as the first three got close in the finish, a stewards’ inquiry was called, although the placings were left unchanged.

Saba Desert was a debut winner at Sandown and Appleby said: “It was an interesting race and Saba Desert is a horse we’ve liked from the get-go.

“We were pleased with the way he did it at Sandown, he naturally progressed from Sandown to here and as everyone knows this is a race we try to find the right one for.

“I know he fluffed his lines at the start but I don’t mind that, I’d rather that than them hit the lids and then you’re up there being forced up on the pace. He’s done it all the right way round and the most important part is when you hit the rising ground you’re finishing and he’s done that with class, I feel.”

Appleby now has his sights set on the Group One Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in the autumn with Saba Desert.

He added: “He’s by Dubawi, so you’re starting with the right product, and we’ll work back from the Dewhurst with him now. Whether we decide to go down the National Stakes route or whether we go to the Champagne (Stakes at Doncaster) and then the Dewhurst we’ll see, but he’ll get a break now.

“He’s more of a Guineas type (than a Derby horse) for next year. There’s plenty about this horse, he’s a true Dubawi and I think he’ll only get better.”

Of Wild Desert, Appleby added: “I’m delighted with the third horse, he was the one that probably got the most interrupted run and he might go to Goodwood for the Vintage.

“He’s a hard horse to gauge as he’s not a work horse at home, whereas the winner is push button – if you want to win a gallop by 10 lengths, you just push the button and he will, but we don’t need to do that, we can wait until we come here.”

O’Brien was satisfied with Italy’s effort and will now likely head to the Curragh next month for a Group Two assignment.

He said: “We’re very happy, he was a bit babyish and a bit green, as we thought he might be.

“He’ll go back to the Futurity Stakes probably now. If he’d won today he’d have had to go into a Group One next, so in a way it’s better (that he got beaten).

“He came for experience and he hasn’t been woke up at all really. We’re very happy and we’ll look forward to him the next time.”

Orion’s Belt stars in Newmarket opener for Richard Hannon

Orion’s Belt got punters off to a a flying start on July Cup day at Newmarket with a runaway success in the opening Rossdales British EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes.

A narrowly-beaten fourth as an odds-on favourite for her debut at Salisbury four weeks ago, Richard Hannon’s charge was a well-backed 15-8 market leader to open her account at the second time of asking.

Her supporters will have had few concerns, with Orion’s Belt sent straight to the lead by Ryan Moore and she was three and three-quarter lengths clear of the chasing pack at the line.

Hannon’s senior head lad, Tony Gorman, said: “She’s a very nice filly and that was exactly what we thought earlier on in the year.

“She was stepping up in trip today, but I think even at six (furlongs) she would have won because she was always in a lovely place.

“Once ours have had a run they know their jobs and she’s loads of options. She’s a big filly so we’ll give her a bit of time and she’s by a proper sire (Starman).”

Royal Velvet (4-1) swooped fast and late to land the Trustatrader 20th Anniversary Fillies’ Handicap under a typically well-timed ride from William Buick.

Winning trainer William Knight said: “Having Will Buick on board always helps and he gave her a great ride there. He doesn’t know the filly and he just let her go through the gears.

“I was quite happy with where she was, seven (furlongs) is fast enough for her but she came good at the end.

“At some point in the future we might get some black type with her.”

Fifth Column came out on top in a Godolphin-dominated finish to the bet365 Mile Handicap, with John and Thady Gosden’s 4-1 shot outpointing Charlie Appleby’s 7-4 favourite Bedouin Prince by a neck, with Ryan Moore the winning rider.

John Gosden said: “The plan was there to get there as late as possible and he got there and did it nicely. I’m very happy with him.

“I’ve already been told by bet365 we have to go for the Cambridgeshire, but being a three-year-old we’ve got to get the weights up a bit.

“He won the race on his side in the Britannia (at Royal Ascot) and it’s nice to win here with him.”

This news was originally published on this post .

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