The Weekend Winners trio are back to preview the weekend’s action at Newbury, where the Greenham Stakes headlines the Spring Trials card on Saturday.
Ten runners are set to go to post for the main event at 2.35pm, headlined by last year’s Coventry Stakes winner Rashabar and Cheveley Park’s Chancellor, who runs for the Gosden team.
During the latest edition of Weekend Winners, the trio named their selections for what could be a cracker of a race in Berkshire – live on Sky Sports Racing.
Kate Tracey…
“I am with Rashabar. This horse was just the epitome of Brian Meehan’s season last year. He seemingly had a fluke win in the Coventry at 66/1 but in his subsequent runs, he proved that was no fluke whatsoever! He was second in the Group 1 Prix Morny behind Whistlejacket before being beaten a neck by Camille Pissarro in the Prix Jean-Luc-Lagardère. That was on the softest ground he had faced as well, over seven furlongs for the first time – which he seemed to get well.
“He sets the standard now, rated 113 and he brings Group 1 form into the race. The others will have to improve past him as he’s a very good horse.”
Sam Boswell…
“I think Rashabar is probably the right favourite on the form book from what we know so far. How strong is this Greenham? I’m not sure. Chancellor could be anything but I tried to find a bit of an each-way play at a price and I appreciate you can get horses fit at home but there’s no substitute for recent runs on the racecourse. Diablo Rojo is an interesting Amo Racing horse. If you go back through the form book the debut at Redcar was so green in a big field event, but he managed to get the win.
“He went to the Acomb and blew his chance but in his recent run at Lingfield, he picked up and won a very decent race. You go back through the horses in behind and he’s finished in front of West Acre, who has gone on to do plenty throughout the winter so I think you can upgrade that. He showed a tenacious attitude to battle on and I love the fact he’s here fit and well. The trainer is going to have to have a big season with the Amo Racing job but their horses tend to start well and I think 12/1 is a good price.”
Declan Rix…
In terms of form I’d say Rashabar deserves to be shorter than 3/1, given what he did last season. He’s very solid mentally but I just wonder, could he need this? Chancellor, could he be the same? If John Gosden really believes he’s a 2,000 Guineas candidate I don’t think he’ll be cherry-ripe for this as that’s the one race missing from his CV.
I like Yah Mo Be There for the Richard Spencer team. I just loved what he did last season and he’s been underestimated by the market, probably because of the man that trains him. We shouldn’t forget that on debut he ran behind Andesite at York, who maybe would have gone off favourite for the Coventry Stakes had he not been a non-runner on the day. This horse did run in the Coventry itself but I don’t think he was right in the middle of the track and he was all over the place. The last day at Newbury was really impressive. He was still a bit green and wasn’t the quickest away from the stalls but had loads left in the tank following a nice evenly-run race. He’s got a bit of toe and a bit of class and that was over six furlongs, I can’t believe he won’t be better over seven.
His pedigree suggests he will, his running style suggests he will and he’s by Mohaather – a stallion who could have a really big year with his three-year-olds. He actually won this race himself before he ran into injury trouble.”
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