Matrika Returns In The Nell Gwyn

Long absent but certainly not forgotten by the racing intelligentsia, TDN Rising Star Matrika (Ire) (No Nay Never) stages her comeback in a renewal of Newmarket's G3 Lanwades Stud Nell Gwyn S. on Wednesday that could yet determine the shape of next month's G1 1000 Guineas. While seen generally as an understudy to Ballydoyle's sidelined Opera Singer (Justify) and other TDN Rising Star Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the Classic picture throughout the winter weeks, there is time for her to emerge as a leading light with this seven-furlong prep sure to provide evidence as to her true merit.

Aidan O'Brien spoke of how Matrika was not inclined to give her all last term and that looked the case despite her winning on debut at The Curragh and in that venue's G2 Airlie Stud S. Runner-up to Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio) in Royal Ascot's G3 Albany S. in the interim, she remains one of the budding Rosegreen prospects that could materialise into a top-level performer.

Ryan Moore said, “We didn't see her after that win in July, but the fact that she is here speaks for itself, Aidan has his horses in very good nick and, while she has plenty of speed, I'd have thought she will get the extra furlong here okay.”

 

Continuing The Sequence?

In general, Charlie Appleby's horses perform to a high level at this Craven meeting and in some ways their performances give a barometer as to what type of season he will have. The yard's leading Guineas hope Dance Sequence (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) has little to prove, having already garnered the important juvenile staging post of the course-and-distance G3 Oh So Sharp S. and she heads into this trial as the hot favourite. “Dance Sequence has done very well over the winter,” Appleby said. “She looks the one to beat again.”

KHK Racing Ltd's True Cyan (Ire) is another daughter of No Nay Never with big upside, being out of the multiple group winner Realtra (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and a course-and-distance winner from the Roger Varian stable. Chris Wall, racing manager to owner Shaikh Khalid, said, “She's wintered well, she's been training satisfactorily, we're hopeful of a positive effort and then we'll take it from there. If you're going to be stakes class, you'll have to be up there competing with them and if not, we'll have to go down another route with her.”

 

Narkez Tests The Waters As Fabre Descends On Newmarket Again…

Andre Fabre has never made any secret of his regard for the track at Newmarket and it is notable that he ships across Nurlan Bizakov's TDN Rising Star Narkez (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) for the nine-furlong Listed Feilden S. he won with his subsequent G1 Prix du Jockey Club hero Intello (Ger) (Galileo {Ire}) in 2013. He was impressive when handing the well-regarded Supercooled (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) a 6 1/2-length beating in Saint-Cloud's Prix Comrade at a mile last month and that stablemate had been far closer to the recent G3 Prix la Force winner Atlast (Fr) (Farhh {GB}) at Chantilly in October.

“The distance should suit him with the extra furlong, as he is from a family of middle-distance horses and obviously he's in good shape,” Fabre said of the homebred, whose form is also closely linked in with Sunday's G3 Prix de Fontainebleau scorer Ramadan (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}).

“I want to see how he does it because he won easily last time, beating not much, so this will be a good experience for him. If he does well, he's more of a mile-and-a-quarter horse so the Prix du Jockey Club would be a long-term target for him, but I'll be wiser after the race.”

Aidan O'Brien returns with the G3 Zetland S. runner-up Gasper De Lemos (Ire) (Justify), while Godolphin's Kempton novice scorer El Cordobes (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and the Gredley Family's Zetland third Ambiente Friendly (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) are other fascinating contenders.

Gasper De Lemos's jockey Ryan Moore is aware of the threat of the French raider. “We are happy with him coming into this race, but he will be suited by further down the line and I am always wary of an Andre Fabre horse and his Narkez won very well on his return,” he said.

 

Rhyme Run Depends On Course Walk…

Also at Newmarket, the older horses get their chance in the nine-furlong G3 Earl of Sefton S., where Karl Burke is pondering whether to let his upwardly-mobile Royal Rhyme (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) take his chance on drying ground. One of the back-end of last season's most improved 3-year-olds, Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's Listed Doonside Cup winner was fifth in the G1 Champion S. on his favoured deep surface.

“He's in good shape, but I'd be a bit worried about the ground and if we're not happy with it, he's a possible non-runner,” his trainer said. “If it goes on the firm side, he definitely wouldn't run and really, to be at his best, he wants a bit of soft ground.”

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Nell Gwyn Headlines Craven Meet’s Day 1 Card

The Classic trials caravan rolls into Newmarket today with the Rowley Mile venue primed and ready to host a seven-race card and open its three-day Craven fixture. Sophomore fillies take centre stage on day one with nine set for another competitive edition of HQ's G3 Lanwades Stud Nell Gwyn S. over a straight seven furlongs. Middleham Park Racing's 2012 victrix Esentepe (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}) is the only winner since the turn of the century to have undertaken a preparatory run, so the trends are not in favour of Scuderia Archi Romani & Partner's hitherto undefeated Ribbon Rose (GB) (Time Test {GB}), who makes her stakes bow coming back off seven-furlong score at Kempton last month. She had previously graduated over this course and distance in October.

Top billing in this G1 1000 Guineas trial is shared by familiar rivals Hello You (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}), with the former leading their ongoing series 2-1. Amo Racing's Hello You placed ahead of Cachet in Royal Ascot's G3 Albany S. and was too good for Highclere Thoroughbred Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' when best in September's G2 Rockfel S. over this strip.

“Hello You might just need her first race,” admitted trainer David Loughnane. “If she does, she does, but if she doesn't, she'll be there in the business of things. It is a long season ahead and we didn't want to overcook her. She has grown nicely, she has done very well and we are very happy with her. She did a nice piece of work 10 days ago at Wolverhampton and we are very pleased with her. She has proved she goes on any ground and has handled most tracks. She was very consistent last year and you never know until you run them whether they have trained on or not, but she has certainly shown the right signs.”

Cachet gained a small measure of revenge when a close-up fourth, one place and 3/4-of-a-length ahead of Hello You, in Del Mar's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last November. “That [Breeders' Cup] form was given a good boost when Francis-Henri Graffard's horse [Malavath] won [the G3 Prix Imprudence] in France and that was nice to see,” said trainer George Boughey. “Although Cachet was busy at two, she had a good break in the middle of the summer and had a proper break at the National Stud in the winter. Fortunately, she has come back and not missed a day's training, so it is one of those things where she has been pretty straightforward. If she had missed, she would be behind the kick, but she hasn't. She looks great, she is a filly who got physically better as the year went on and I think she will do that again. I think her career best was on firm ground at Del Mar and I have never really worried about the ground with her. She has a fast-ground action and seems to handle anything. This is a good stepping stone [to the G1 1000 Guineas] and looks a race where she should be very competitive.”

William Stone trainee Romantic Time (GB) (Time Test {GB}) is better than her seventh to Hello You and Cachet in the Rockfel and had Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum's Perfect News (GB) (Frankel {GB}) back in eighth when annexing Salisbury's G3 Dick Poole Fillies' S. earlier in September. British bookmakers rate Perfect News, who has since finished third in the Oct. 8 G3 Oh So Sharp S. over course and distance, as a 5-1 chance and Romantic Time at much higher odds of 16-1.

Five have been nominated for the first stakes heat of the day and Godolphin's Listed Pat Eddery S. winner and G3 Prix La Rochette fourth New Science (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) will be a warm order for the Listed European Free H., another Guineas trial over seven furlongs.

The €260,000 Arqana Select yearling has the benefit of match fitness this term, having posted a staying-on third tackling one mile in Meydan's Feb. 3 Listed Jumeirah Classic when last seen, and Charlie Appleby is hopeful of a good effort in this European return. “New Science has definitely come forward from his run in Dubai,” the trainer revealed. “If he brings the best of his 2-year-old form to the table, it will make him very competitive.”

He is confronted by Shadwell's homebred Ribhi (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), who bookended a fifth in September's Listed Flying Scotsman S. at Doncaster with victories in six-furlong contests at Salisbury, Listed Prix Zeddaan victrix Honey Sweet (Ire) (Adday {Ire}), the Richard Hannon-trained G3 Horris Hill S. third Tacarib Bay (GB) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) and Listed Stonehenge S. second Power of Beauty (Ire) (Slade Power {Ire}). “Ribhi seems to be going there in good form, he is in good shape and I'm looking forward to seeing him run,” said trainer Marcus Tregoning. “Hopefully he will run well and we gauge something from the race, although it is difficult to gauge things in a small field. It is a fact-finding mission, but going back up in trip should help.”

Godolphin's G1 2000 Guineas second Master of the Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who snagged this meet's G3 Craven S. last year, has been gelded since finishing seventh in Ascot's G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. and encounters six rivals in the bet365-sponsored G3 Earl of Sefton S. over nine furlongs. His chief threat is Anthony Oppenheimer's G2 Dante S. runner-up and G3 Sovereign S. victor Megallan (GB) (Kingman {GB}), who comes back off a fifth in October's G2 Prix Dollar at ParisLongchamp.

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Nell Gwyn Next For Love Is You

Love Is You (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), trained by Roger Charlton for Normandie Stud, will next appear on the racecourse in the Apr. 14 G3 Nell Gwyn S. Unveiled at Ascot on Sept. 5, the daughter of Fallen For You (GB) (Dansili {GB}) narrowly won going a mile, and followed up with another victory, this time over seven furlongs in the Listed Radley S. at Newbury on Oct. 24. If her Nell Gwyn mission is a success, the May 2 G1 1000 Guineas is next on her dance card at Newmarket.

“Everyone seems happy with her at this stage,” said Roger Charlton. “Preparation has been so far without issues, and the plan is to run in the Nell Gwyn. It's been a fair winter–luckily we didn't have snow to hold us up. She's been ticking along.

“It's pretty miserable and cold for fillies right now, but that's also what normally happens at this time of year. It's never easy, or ideal, but it's the same for everybody.”

“I think she's developed well,” he added. “The main competition normally comes from the other side of the Irish Sea–and they've got quite a few reserves as well, I suspect.

“Her last race was run on pretty appalling ground–I don't think it's what she needs, particularly, but she did it well. We'll find out more when she runs at Newmarket, I guess.

“She dealt with the ground [at Newbury]. I don't think going is an issue for her. That was an extreme–nobody would choose to run on it, but there weren't too many other choices.”

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