Oxted (GB) | Horse Racing Free Tips

Abernant Next For Oxted

Group 1 winner Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) is aiming to defend his title in the Apr. 15 G3 Abernant S. at Newmarket, trainer Roger Teal revealed on Monday. Oxted, who won the G1 July Cup S., was unplaced in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint on dirt in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 20. An alternative option for the gelding is the G2 Duke of York S. if the ground is too quick at Newmarket.

Teal said, “At the moment the plan is to go to Newmarket as long as the ground is not rattling fast. Newmarket can get very quick so we will be guided by the weather. He is on track for Newmarket, but he is entered in the Duke Of York and if we feel the ground is too quick for him next week we will wait for that instead.

“He took the travelling to Saudi Arabia really well but he lost quite a bit of weight on the journey back. However, he put that back on quickly and he looks in great order–I could not be happier with the way he looks.”

“I just think we got our tactics wrong in Saudi Arabia and we should have been a bit more patient,” he added. “We chased the pace early and ran out of gas at the end. We should have let him find his way into the race instead of going the break-neck pace they do on the dirt.”

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Saudi Arabian Dirt Likely for Oxted

Group 1 winner Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) is likely for the six-furlong Riyadh Dirt Sprint instead of the 1351 Turf Sprint at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 20. A winner of the G3 Abernant S. last June, the bay gelding added the G1 July Cup at Newmarket one month later. After undergoing wind surgery, Oxted resumed with a fifth in the Oct. 17 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S.

“At the moment we are favouring the dirt really because it's six furlongs,” said trainer Roger Teal, whose son Harry will accompany his stable star to Saudi Arabia, at a Saudi Cup press conference. “Obviously, it's an unknown surface for us but because it's a flat six furlongs I think that is where we are going to go. He's a good-moving horse. He likes the top of the ground and handles all sorts of ground.

“He trains on an all-weather surface every day, so I'm just hoping. The reports are very good about the dirt track in Saudi. That gives me confidence. There's not too much kickback apparently. As long as there wasn't going to be tons of kickback, I think we're going to be happy to run him on it.”

He added, “The timing of the race was good for us. It was enough time to give him a break and then prepare him for the season ahead. We can go to Saudi, come back, maybe go to Dubai for World Cup night if things go to plan. We can then prepare for Ascot and another go at the July Cup. We'll be a little bit wiser after the event. He's pretty straightforward and takes things in his stride, but you don't know until you do it. He should be fine.”

Regularly ridden by Cieren Fallon, Jr., the now 5-year-old gelding would reunite with Fallon in Saudi Arabia.

“He definitely gets on so well with the horse,” said Teal. “Hopefully when Cieren's available he can ride him whenever. This horse has got good gate speed. He travels strong. He's got early pace so I think the pace of the race will suit him fine. The pace beat us at Ascot [on Champions Day] last year. There wasn't enough pace for him.”

“Harry will go with him out there,” he added, but was non-committal on his own attendance. “You can't make any firm plans yet, but we'd like to be there if we can. He's pretty much on track. He's been stepping up weekly. We're very happy. We'll just keep tipping away with what we're doing and get him there in good shape.

“If we're allowed to I'm looking to getting him to Wolverhampton just to have one good sprint round the turn because he's never run round a bend. That's another thing we've got to find out about him. He's in good shape. He had a short break after Ascot. He had a month away and came back looking tremendous. He's really blossomed through the winter.”

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Oxted Camp Mull Saudi Cup Options

Group 1 winner Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) could contest one of the races on the Feb. 20 $20-million Saudi Cup card. Under consideration for the 2020 G1 July Cup victor is a $1.5-million six-furlong race on the King Abdulaziz Racecourse’s main track and the 1351 Turf Sprint. Oxted has never raced over a dirt surface.

“The obvious one for us would be the Turf Sprint which is run over about six and three-quarter furlongs,” said trainer Roger Teal. “I suppose his ideal trip would be six, but he has won over seven in the past so it shouldn’t be a problem. We will also have a look at the Riyadh Dirt Sprint too which is run over six as we know he goes so well over that distance.

“I’ve heard really good things about the quality of the dirt surface–I spoke to James Doyle who was very complimentary about it. Also, in the back of my mind I know that he is trained on the all-weather at home and he is a speedy horse that normally holds a prominent position, so the kick-back should be less of a concern.”

The 4-year-old ended his campaign with a fifth in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S. on Oct. 17. He has recently returned from a four-week holiday.

“He came back in on Monday [last week] after a short break just to freshen him up a bit,” added Teal. “I guess it was about four weeks or so to give him some time to chill out after a busy season. He was out in the field during the day and came back in at night. It seems to have done him the world of good and we now start our preparations for a potential trip to Riyadh in February. We will wind him up slowly and gradually step up his exercise routine.”

After Oxted’s run on British Champions Day, the Dec. 13 Longines Hong Kong International Races were judged to be held too late in the season for the Mayson gelding.

Said Teal, “The Saudi Cup meeting sits perfectly in the calendar for him as we build towards another season in the UK. We had the option of going to Hong Kong, but that meeting just came too late in the season for us. Targeting the Saudi Cup sprints allowed us to give the horse a break then bring him back. We’d love to go there and take our chance.”

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Stars Line Up for QIPCO British Champions Day

Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) might be retired to the Juddmonte paddocks, but there will still be plenty of equine stars spread across five group races on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday, as fields were drawn on Thursday morning.

2019 G1 QIPCO Champion S. winner Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is aiming for her second consecutive Champion S. score, and the Coolmore runner has been in prime form of late, with three Group 1 wins this season, her only loss a second to formidable frontrunner Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G1 Juddmonte International S. in August. The 5-year-old mare leads the Ballydoyle trio of MG1SW Japan (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) and G1 Derby scorer Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). She defeated Ghaiyyath in the G1 Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown on Sept. 12. Last year’s G1 Champion S. runner-up Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) earned a brace of Group 1 wins in Australia this spring, and he ran second to the re-opposing Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G1 Prince of Wales’s S. at Royal Ascot in June. The durable chestnut was first past the post at the listed level at Ayr on Sept. 19 for William Haggas. Besides Lord North, John Gosden sends out G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}), who landed the G2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano at Deauville on Aug. 15.

The G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. lost some of its lustre with the absence of 2020 G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas hero Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) and MG1SW Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), but that has put the focus even more firmly on fledgling miler wunderkind Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}). Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum’s undefeated colt stunned in the G1 St James’s Palace S. in June and backed up those claims in heavy ground in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville in August. This year’s G1 Queen Anne S. hero Circus Maximus (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), one of three from Ballydoyle, ran second in the G1 Sussex S. in July before taking third to Palace Pier in the Prix Jacques le Marois. The Flaxman Stables/Coolmore partners colourbearer was most recently third in the G1 Prix du Moulin at ParisLongchamp on Sept. 6. Shadwell’s Oct. 3 G1 Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot S. heroine Nazeef (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Oct. 3 G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein victor The Revenant (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) could also both provide stiff challenges on Saturday.

If Hollie Doyle triumphs aboard 4-year-old filly Dame Malliot (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S., it would be one of the stories of the weekend, as it would be Doyle’s first win out of the top drawer. Ed Vaughan’s dual Group 2 winner ran third in both the G1 Preis von Europa in August and the Sept. 13 G1 Qatar Prix Vermeille and is a solid chance. She faces ace sophomores Wonderful Tonight (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), who won the G1 Qatar Prix de Royallieu for David Menuisier on Oct. 3, and Ger Lyons’s G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks heroine Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) among others.

Despite the absence of Shadwell’s grey speedball Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), quality is rampant throughout the 17-strong G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S. field. Lael Stable’s One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) will try to go one better than in 2019 and enters off her third straight G1 Qatar Prix de la Foret victory. However, the 6-year-old mare is not the only entrant coming in off a Group 1 victory, as Roger Teal trainee Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) resurfaces after a score in the G1 July Cup S. on July 11 and a wind operation. Dream of Dreams (Ire) (Dream Ahead), the top-rated horse in the field, bettered Glen Shiel (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) by 1 1/4 lengths in Haydock’s G1 Betfair Sprint Cup S. on Sept. 5. Andrew Balding saddles the progressive Happy Power (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) looking for the colt’s fourth-straight win, building on the back of scores in the Aug. 30 G3 Supreme S. and Newmarket’s G2 Challenge S. on Oct. 9.

A baker’s dozen step up for the opening race, with 2018 winner Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) out to regain his crown in the G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup. The game Bjorn Nielsen runner was second last term to Kew Gardens (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Twice a winner at the highest level in 2020, he was last in action when seventh in the G1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The chestnut faces two-time G1 Irish St Leger heroine Search For a Song (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) for Moyglare Stud, 2019 G1 Irish Derby winner Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})-one of three for Aidan O’Brien, 2020 Irish St. Leger bridesmaid Fujaira Prince (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), and G2 Doncaster Cup S. hero Spanish Mission (Noble Mission {GB}) for Team Valor and Gary Barber.

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