Cityscape trotted up sound this morning so fingers crossed no damage was done at Ascot yesterday where the ground was good but faster than he likes.  I was pleased and proud with the way he ran against two such high class milers and just for a moment, he loomed up on the outside with a chance.  Ryan Moore reported that had the ground been softer he would have been able to sustain his run and stretch to the line more freely.  Granted luck and trouble free training with him,  there must surely be another Group race for him to win before the end of the season.

Proponent is our only runner today at Royal Ascot, he runs in the Hunt Cup and will be ridden by Harry Bentley claiming 5lbs. He has always been a very consistent performer and indeed was 5th in last years race and only beaten less than 3 lengths off a rating of 97. Today he runs with a rating of 98 but with the 5lbs taken off, he must have a fair chance of being in the shake up.  His homework has been good and he tends to run his best races when he is feeling very fresh and well.

Harry Bentley on Proponent (last of the four) after working on the summer gallops

I was really pleased with the way that Sea Of Heartbreak ran last night, she is so consistent and always tries her best and I thought that Kirsty gave her a good ride. I got the impression last night that it would be worth trying a mile and a half again and with a bit of luck she will win a Listed or Group 3 race before the end of the season.

Cityscape runs today in the Queen Anne which contains no less than the winners of 22 Group 1 races and 7.4 million pounds worth of prize money.  I have been keen to run him as it is important that he runs on at least good ground or preferably soft ground and there have been so few opportunities recently.  He will need to improve on his best form by 4 or 5 lengths to lower the colours of the two best turf milers in the world, but with a bit of luck I hope that he will stay on to be 3rd or 4th.  Big four year old colts can easily get bored at home and it is important to get them to the races on a fairly regular basis and who knows, he may have to wait until September or October before there is a genuine change in the going.

Cityscape

Our prayers were answered yesterday at Salisbury where they had over 30 mm of rain which produced soft ground for Border Patrol to return to the racecourse for the first time in 12 months.  He has in the past been difficult in the preliminaries but I was pleased with the way he behaved yesterday and we threw Eddie Ahern onto his back as he cantered down to the start without his feet in the stirrups.  The 6 furlong trip is too sharp for him and he was probably a bit rusty but he did eventually stay on to finish 3rd but beaten a long way by Elnawin who supposedly was unsuited to the ground. As long as he remains sound he will return to the races as soon as possible weather permitting.

Our only runner today is at Warwick where they have had 23 mm of rain in the past 24 hours and the going is described as good, good to soft in places.  Sea of Heartbreak runs in the Warwickshire Oaks at 7.40pm and she will be ridden by Kirsty Milczarek as Steve Drowne is still suspended by the Doctor.  It looks a tough and competitive race but as long as she handles the ease in the ground, she should be competitive having been beaten a length and a half by Timepiece in October and finishing over 4 lengths in front of Mirror Lake at Newmarket.

Sea Of Heartbreak

Yesterdays runner Deceptive was a little disappointing at Goodwood but she got herself into a rather unpromising position and could only stay on at the one pace.

We have no runners today but if the weather forecast of rain arriving during the morning is correct for Salisbury, I am hoping to run Border Patrol  (Eddie Ahern) for Elite Racing in the Cathedral Stakes Listed  tomorrow.  I have been desperately trying to find a suitable race for him on soft ground since early April but without any luck, tomorrows race is over 6 furlongs but his preference would be for at least 7 furlongs but there are no other suitable race at present.  He did win the Carnavon Stakes Listed at Newbury as a three year old over 6 furlongs beating Triple Asset and Elnawin (5th) where the ground was soft.  Tomorrow will be an exercise on getting him back on the course having not run for exactly 12 months, when he misbehaved with William Buick between the paddock and the track at Chantilly. Sadly poor Steve Drowne will not be riding him as he has had a reoccurrence of his injury sustained at Bath last Saturday, it's very bad luck for him to be missing out on Royal Ascot. Border Patrol's finest hour came at the Curragh in September 2009 when he beat Poet and Zafisio on soft ground in the Group 3 Solonaway Stakes. 

 Border Patrol on top of our world.

Both yesterdays runners were placed with Lucy Limelites finishing 3rd in her race at Nottingham having made the running for the majority of the race.  The blinkers seemed to help, Tom Queally reported that she was tough and genuine but had got a little tired in the final furlong, granted some luck she ought to win another race.  Waterborne stayed on resolutely to snatch 4th place near the line and will be suited by going up in distance before he goes to the July Sales, he could make a summer jumping prospect.  St Oswald was a non runner.

Deceptive runs today in a mile and six maiden handicap at Goodwood this evening in the 6.15pm . I hope the extra distance will suit her as she lacks a turn of foot but appears to keep galloping.

Deceptive

We were all rather disappointed by Keys performance at Haydock yesterday. There is no doubt that it would have taken a very good horse to beat the winner who could be up to Group race standard but Keys was beaten a long way. Paul Hanagan reported that he hated the soft ground which had become very holding and that he knew before entering the straight that he was not going to run well.  Like his sire, Doyen who won the King George at Ascot on firm ground, he loves the fast ground. It is fair to say that he won his bumper at Cheltenham on soft ground but it had rained hard before racing and sometimes they can go through it while it is still wet.

Lucy Limelites goes to Nottingham to run in the first division of the mile and a quarter fillies handicap. She was disappointing in her first race this year but she has always had an aversion for any form of kickback or being crowded by other horses. We are trying a set of blinkers today (so that she sees less) and with a small field I hope that she can either make the running or at least be on the outside so that there are no excuses.   At Newbury we have two runners with St Oswald running in the 2.30pm and wearing a set of blinkers for the first time. He was disappointing in his last race when he missed the break and only made a small amount of headway in the straight.  His homework has suggested that he should be better than his current rating and I hope he runs better today.  Waterborne is ridden by Richard Hughes in the 4.50pm and he wears a tongue strap for the first time, having been disappointing at Kempton last time.  He didn't enjoy the kickback at Kempton so fingers crossed that he can produce a more encouraging performance this afternoon. 

We had a mix day at Salisbury with a couple of disappointments and one encouragement. Sea Of Light again looked incredibly green and inexperienced and faded badly in the closing stages, maybe one more run before being dispatched to the Sales.  Goldtrek seemed to get the conditions that she likes but she was unable to maintain her effort in the closing stages to finish 5th, she just does not seem to have quite come to herself yet.  At last Camberley Two showed some promise and he would have learnt alot from the race. He stayed on well in the closing stages to deadheat for 3rd and giving the impression that a mile will suit him

Clowance was confirmed in foal to Oasis Dream when she was scanned at evening stables yesterday, so she will be roughed off and start her honourable retirement.  I have always tried to understand how the handicappers work and I am sure that if Clowance was a handicapper that her rating would have been raised by more than 2lbs to 112 after her race at Epsom.  Midday's rating remains on 121 and with Dandino 113 and Indian Days 114, he obviously thinks that her performance was a bit of a fluke.

Her little brother Keys is our only runner this afternoon at Haydock at 3.50 pm and I hope that he has improved since his last race where he finished second at Kempton.  Todays race is interesting and Timeforms ratings would suggest that it is a three horse race with Keys rated 86p, Thubiaan rated 87p and Henry Cecil's Wild Coco rated 89p.  For those interested in breeding, I noticed that both Keys and Wild Coco are out of 14 year old mares by Sternkoenig and from good solid German families.

Keys

We have got three runners at Salisbury today with Sea of Light in the first division of the two year old maiden race. She ran a disappointing race first time out last week at Kempton and I think today is a "watching brief," she does have ability but can be on occasions reluctant to show it. 

Goldtrek is now ridden by Jimmy Fortune as Steve Drowne had a fall at Bath on Saturday and having had one ride at Windsor last night, is still not fit. She is in good form and if she is allowed to dominate the race from the front and the ground remains fast, (currently raining at Beckhampton) I hope she will run well.

Goldtrek

Camberley Two squeezed into the 5.00pm race with bottom weight and will be ridden again by Chris Catlin. He is a hard horse to assess as he is incredibly green and unsure of himself and equally the trainer is unsure what distance he really needs.  In theory he could be well handicapped but not a horse at this stage to rely upon. With more racing he could get his act together as the season progresses.

Camberley Two

I was thrilled and immensely proud of the way Clowance ran yesterday as we all know the conditions were far from ideal with the ground firming up with plenty of sun and a strong breeze.  It was arguably her best racing performance to finish within 3 lengths of St Nicholas Abbey a former champion two year old and a length behind Midday, also a champion and a winner of 5 Group 1 races.  She seems to be fine this morning although not surprisingly her ankles are a bit sore and as long as she is re-scanned in foal next week, she will be retired to Barry Hurley's  stud.  We will all be very sorry to see her go, although she can be quite grumpy and difficult at times and she has required alot of extra attention on the ice machine and many hours of horse walking twice a day.  Steve Raymont has ridden her nearly every day for the past two seasons and also he has been responsible for feeding and managing the barn that she lives in and deserves a great deal of credit for her wonderful effort.