Newmarket July meeting: Thursday results and reports
Castle Way emerged as a serious St Leger prospect as he held off the late lunge of odds-on favourite Tower Of London to land the Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket.
Not seen since winning a Listed race over 10 furlongs at the Guineas meeting, Palace Pier’s half-brother was stepping up markedly in trip to a mile and five furlongs.
William Buick sat in second on the Charlie Appleby-trained inner, as rank outsider Think First set a sedate gallop under Neil Callan, meaning several in behind were very keen.
Tower Of London was particularly not one of those, but while it did look like he wanted to go a little quicker, Ryan Moore was still sat close enough to the pace if good enough.
As the race began in earnest Saint George moved up on his outside which allowed Castle Way to steal a march.
When Think First dropped away Tower Of London was in the clear with plenty of time to catch the 9-2 scorer, but Moore lost his stick over a furlong from home, which will not have helped.
The favourite was gaining with every stride, but went down by a head with Saint George not far away in third.
Castle Way was cut to 7-1 from 25s by Paddy Power for the Leger, and Doncaster will be on the agenda, according to Appleby.
Appleby said: “We’re delighted. He’s a horse who hasn’t done a lot wrong in his career, really. His only real blip was at Epsom on soft ground.
“We came in here today confident this step up in trip would suit him. There was a question mark, as there always is when you are going beyond that mile -and-a-half category.
“It was a great ride by William. We went out there to ride him as though the trip wasn’t an issue and as William said, for a trip just short of a mile and six, we went very steady. It did turn turn into a bit of a sprint. At one stage I thought, ‘oh, we’ve committed now and you’ll have to find again’, but to be fair to the horse, he dug deep.”
Asked if he was thinking of the Leger in the long term, Appleby added: “Most definitely. We will probably go down the natural route there to the Voltigeur and then hopefully that will springboard us into being a St Leger contender, anyway.
“We haven’t had a run since May. For no other reason that I dodged Ascot for King Of Steel to be perfectly honest – I couldn’t see us beating him – and then the next target was here.
“We kept an eye on the Grand Prix de Paris, but we would have to ship there and he hasn’t done that before, and it is a small but competitive race. On our doorstep, we thought we would come here and test our stamina before we go travelling.”
Jasour storms to July Stakes success
Jasour came from last to first to put up a visually impressive display in winning the Kingdom Of Bahrain July Stakes at Newmarket.
Trained by Clive Cox, the son of Havana Grey was sent off a 16-1 chance on the back of victory at Nottingham last time out.
The well-fancied Purosangue attempted to make all under Ray Dawson but with two furlongs to run he had done the best of his running.
Norfolk Stakes runner-up Malc was under pressure from a long way out before staying on again.
Toca Madera made a bold bid for home, before Jim Crowley got a lovely split at just the right time on Jasour, who quickened up in taking fashion to put the race to bed in a matter of strides.
Lake Forest, a debut winner for William Haggas, was another to make ground from the rear but was beaten a comprehensive two lengths with a head back to Toca Madera.
Cox said: “Really pleased. He always gave us a lot of promise and we felt at home that dropping in behind was going to see a big improvement. He has just run in two races where nothing has been able to lead him early.
“Stepping up to six was a step into the unknown. He had to really settle and he did – beautifully. In a race of this class, it was magical to see him do that. I’m just so pleased, so happy, so proud of him.
“I’m so pleased for Sheikh Sultan. He’s a big supporter and following on behind Golden Horde – and sadly he missed that one winning at Royal Ascot – this is a really nice horse to have and a nice one to witness in person.”
He added: “We will go to the Richmond (Stakes, at Goodwood) from here. He will have an entry in the Prix Morny and we’ll see what’s what. The natural progression, everything is possible. He has a lovely mind and is very well behaved. He has been an absolute Christian to deal with.
“What is really pleasing is the stallion, Havana Grey, is producing three-year-olds as well, so we have every bit of confidence he will hopefully continue. He is clearly a very good two-year-old.
“He has won a Group Two now, so it will be front-foot all the way.”
Adayar disappoints as Israr lands of Princess of Wales's Stakes
Israr was well on top of the line, as 2021 Derby and King George winner Adayar disappointed in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket.
Charlie Appleby’s Adayar was a long odds-on favourite to get back to winning ways following a meritorious run in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Back up to his favoured mile and a half on the July course, the 1-3 market leader was expected to take care of three rivals before heading to the King George and an attempt to reclaim the crown he won two years ago.
Everything appeared to be going smoothly three furlongs from home as Jim Crowley began to get serious with Israr, but Adayar was not pulling away.
As soon as Israr, trained by John and Thady Gosden, pulled level, William Buick began to send out distress signals but there was no response from Adayar, with Israr (7-2) ultimately pulling four and a half lengths clear.
Appleby said: “I think obviously we have a decision to make, but you know me, I won’t rush into anything. We’ll get him back and see if there is anything untoward, but unless we find anything out of the ordinary…
“We will give it a week or 10 days and see if anything transpires. He owes no one anything – he’s a Derby winner. You certainly can’t go to a King George or a race like that on the back of a performance like that, though.
“I thought he would go there and put it to bed. Israr, to be fair to him, came under the pump earlier than we did and we got him at it, but Will said he just emptied as he hit the rising ground on me.
“We will see what his vitals are like after the race, but it wasn’t the ground. I’m not going to use that as an excuse.
“We will see if anything comes out in the wash. I don’t think the race came too quickly after Ascot because the signs at home were good.”
Nostrum impresses on return to action
Nostrum created a big impression when making all the running to win the Edmondson Hall Solicitors Sir Henry Cecil Stakes at Newmarket.
Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, the Kingman colt was one of last season’s leading juveniles, finishing third in the Dewhurst behind subsequent 2000 Guineas winner Chaldean – like Nostrum owned by Juddmonte.
Forced to miss the Guineas due to a minor setback, Nostrum was making his seasonal reappearance at Listed level but was still sent off the 11-10 favourite against some promising rivals.
Ryan Moore was happy to make the running, settling beautifully, and just like his sire he produced a smart turn of foot when needed.
Going into the dip, when Moore pressed the button the race was soon over and while the previously unbeaten Embesto gave chase, he was beaten by a comprehensive three lengths.
Stoute said: “It was everything I hoped to see. He had been off for nine months, but he was working very well.
“It looked a competitive field, so we weren’t confident of winning, but we knew he’d run very well.
“But he was most impressive. I was very pleased with him.
“He knocked a hind leg and he needed time to get the infection out and get him right again. The last three weeks we’ve been happy that he’d shown progressive improvement. Ryan liked him.”
Coral halved Stoute’s charge to 6-1 for the Qatar Sussex Stakes, but Stoute said: “I haven’t a clue yet where he will go. He could go a mile and a quarter when we want. We have to see how he comes out of it.
“He will tell us if he could go into Group One company next time, but on today’s evidence, I think he’s ready. I don’t know.
“His two-year-old career was brimfull of promise. Things didn’t quite right for him in the Dewhurst. He’s come here today and won impressively and we can only be very happy, because he is a nice, progressive horse.”
