Mark Johnston | Horse Racing Free Tips

High Definition Greenlit For Dante

One-time G1 Cazoo Derby favourite High Definition (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who returned poor bloodwork prior to missing an intended start in the Listed Lingfield Derby Trial on Saturday, has been declared a starter in the G2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante S. at York on Thursday.

The unbeaten G2 Beresford S. hero, who races for a Coolmore partnership with Westerberg and trainer Aidan O'Brien, was one of 11 colts declared two days out from the Knavesmire's Blue Riband prep. O'Brien also saddles Roman Empire (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), and trainer Jim Bolger sends G3 Eyrefield S. victor Flying Visit (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}).

Mark Johnston's Group 1 winner Gear Up (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) has also stood his ground, as has John and Thady Gosden's duo of the stakes-placed Uncle Bryn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and stakes winner Megallan (GB) (Kingman {GB}), and William Haggas's G3 bet365 Classic Trial hero Alenquer (Fr) (Adlerflug {Ger}). Other Dante hopefuls are Roger Varian's listed-placed Royal Champion (Ire) (Shamardal), Godolphin's two-for-two Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) from the Charlie Appleby yard, and the field is rounded out by David Menuisier's listed winner Belloccio (Fr) (Belardo {Ire}) and Richard Fahey's stakes winner Pythagoras (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}).

The post High Definition Greenlit For Dante appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Gear Up in Good Order For Dante

Group 1 winner Gear Up (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) is training well in advance of a start in the G2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante S. at York on May 13, trainer Mark Johnston has revealed. The bay colt broke his maiden at York last July and added the G3 Acomb S. there in August. Only fourth in Newmarket's G2 Royal Lodge S. on Sept. 26, Gear Up handled heavy ground with a win over 10 furlongs in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud on Oct. 24.

“He's got all the credentials, and we're really looking forward to it,” said Johnston. “It's almost a case of whatever happens [this week] he'll be going to the Derby after.

“We went close with Dee Ex Bee a few years ago [runner-up at Epsom in 2018], but this horse is a Group 1 winner already and he'd be the first of those I've run in the Derby I think–I haven't had that many runners in it all told.

“He did well over the winter. He was extremely green when he won at York first time–but when he went back for the Acomb nobody was expecting him to step up quite the way he did.

“Franny [Norton] said after the Royal Lodge that it wasn't his running–and he called James Doyle before the French race to tell him to make plenty of use of him.”

The post Gear Up in Good Order For Dante appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Australia’s Sir Ron Priestley Dominates the Jockey Club

He was missing throughout all of last season, but Paul Dean's Sir Ron Priestley (GB) (Australia {GB}) made certain he is front and centre this year after dominating Saturday's G2 Betfair Exchange Jockey Club S. at Newmarket. Returning for the first time since finishing second in the 2019 G1 St Leger when winning Nottingham's Listed Further Flight S. over 14 furlongs Apr. 7, the 15-8 joint-favourite was always in his element out in the clear much as this race's last winner Communique (Ire) (Casamento {Ire}) had been in 2019. A true Mark Johnston special, the 5-year-old kept replying to Franny Norton's demands as the returning Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) ran away from the whip which he had shown a tendency to do on occasion last term. At the line, there was a 2 1/2-length margin between the reinvented winner and one of last year's leading members of the Classic generation. “In a small field on a track like this there were going to be no excuses and we were going to come out of here either knowing he wasn't good enough at this trip and we were going to have to go back to Plan A of being a stayer, or have the result we have had,” Charlie Johnston explained. “The [G2] Yorkshire Cup and the [G2] Hardwicke will be the next two places, I'd have thought.”

Sir Ron Priestley was proving one of this year's surprise packages with this display, as the pick of his 2019 form also included a success over a mile and three quarters in Goodwood's G3 March S. His pace from the front here justified the recent rethink at Kingsley House Stables concerning his race program. As a half-brother to the stable's live G1 Gold Cup hope Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), who is now the winner of the G1 Prix Royal-Oak and G2 Dubai Gold Cup, he may have made matters less complicated for connections after Saturday. “Given what he did as a three-year-old and largely because of who his brother is, we spent most of the winter thinking he was going to be a Cup horse this year,” the trainer's son and assistant added. “The Further Flight was a stepping-stone to the Yorkshire Cup and the Ascot Gold Cup, but the way he travelled and picked up there made us think a little bit and off the back of that we made the entry here and in the [June 19] Hardwicke at Royal Ascot. Today was a great opportunity to find out what we should be aiming for for the rest of the year. He's not in the [G1] Coronation Cup, which is a slight frustration in hindsight, but this result means that certainly in the short-term he can stay away from his brother. I wouldn't rule them out meeting at Goodwood further down the line.”

The dam is the triple listed-placed Reckoning (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), who as well as the aforementioned high-achieving Subjectivist also produced this stable's 2020 G2 Rockfel S. third Alba Rose (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}). She is kin to the GIII My Charmer H. runner-up Hope Cross (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) who fittingly on a day like this hails from one of Jim Bolger's better families. It includes the G1 Gran Criterium winner and G1 Irish Derby runner-up Sholokhov (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), the Irish Derby and G1 Coronation Cup hero Soldier of Fortune (Ire) (Galileo {Ire) and the G1 Dewhurst S. winner Intense Focus (Giant's Causeway) as well as the G1 Moyglare Stud S. scorer Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy). Reckoning's as-yet unnamed 2-year-old
filly is by Ulysses (Ire), while she also has a yearling colt by Roaring Lion.

Saturday, Newmarket, Britain
BETFAIR EXCHANGE JOCKEY CLUB S.-G2, £90,000, Newmarket, 5-1, 4yo/up, 12fT, 2:32.54, g/f.
1–SIR RON PRIESTLEY (GB), 127, h, 5, by Australia (GB)
1st Dam: Reckoning (Ire) (MSP-Eng), by Danehill Dancer (Ire)
2nd Dam: Great Hope (Ire), by Halling
3rd Dam: Aspiration (Ire), by Sadler's Wells
(70,000gns Ylg '17 TAOCT). O-Paul Dean; B-Mascalls Stud (GB); T-Mark Johnston; J-Francis Norton. £51,039. Lifetime Record: 11-7-2-0, $506,964. *1/2 to Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), G1SW-Fr, GSW-Eng & UAE, $710,714; and Alba Rose (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}), GSP-Eng. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Pyledriver (GB), 127, c, 4, Harbour Watch (Ire)–La Pyle (Fr), by Le Havre (Ire). (10,000gns RNA Wlg '17 TATFOA). O-La Pyle Partnership; B-Knox & Wells Limited & R Devlin (GB); T-Muir & Grassick. £19,350.
3–Thunderous (Ire), 127, c, 4, Night of Thunder (Ire)–Souviens Toi (GB), by Dalakhani (Ire). (70,000gns Ylg '18 TAOCT). O-Highclere Thoroughbred Racing (George Stubbs); B-Rabbah Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-Mark Johnston. £9,684.
Margins: 2 1/4, 2, 3HF. Odds: 1.88, 1.88, 14.00.
Also Ran: Al Zaraqaan (GB), Pablo Escobarr (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

The post Australia’s Sir Ron Priestley Dominates the Jockey Club appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Subjectivist Camp Mulling Gold Cup Outing

Group 1 winner Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), a winner of the G2 Dubai Gold Cup on Mar. 27, is likely to start next in the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in June. Successful at the highest level in the Prix Royal-Oak last fall, the Dr. Walker colourbearer also saluted in the G3 March S. on Aug. 29 and earlier in the season won the Listed Glasgow S.

“He had a fantastic campaign last year–we always thought of him as a genuine St Leger horse, but that was probably his most disappointing effort through the year,” said trainer Mark Johnston's son Charlie. “We campaigned him quite aggressively last year–he ran in the Gordon, the Voltigeur, the March and then the Leger, so it was a busy summer.

“There is an element to say he's best when he's fresh–but he's also just a bigger, stronger horse this year. Last year you could struggle to keep condition on him, but this year he's taken all the work we have thrown at him. Plan A was Saudi, and we were annoyed he didn't get in there–we couldn't fathom the logic.

“I know Phil Smith framed the staying race as a handicap–and because of weight-for-age, it worked against him. But there were horses running that had been getting beaten in handicaps and went off 50-1, while he'd won a Group 1 on his last start. As soon as he didn't get in, as he was half-ready in early February, Meydan was an opportunity for another big pay day–and it was a fantastic performance.”

Looking forward to the European season Johnston continued, “We've given him a Yorkshire Cup entry–but one of the main attractions to Dubai was that he had no penalty for his Group 1, while he would have in a Sagaro, Henry II or Yorkshire Cup.

“I think Plan A will be to go straight to Ascot, because we've proved we can have him in the form of his life fresh. I think the two he'll definitely go to are Ascot and Goodwood in the summer.

“There's certainly lots to look forward to. He nearly won at Royal Ascot (King George V S., last year), and Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) only just caught him at Goodwood–both of those were over a mile-and-a-half. We always said he would get better with age.”

The post Subjectivist Camp Mulling Gold Cup Outing appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post