European Review
Rob Dove
You know him well if you’ve listened to ITM for any length of time. Rob Dove, “One of the Top 10 Pro Punters in the UK” is here with a review of the European Stakes action last week.
File these away as they might come in quite handy the first weekend in November.
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Juddmonte International
Brilliant Baaeed looked even better on this first try at 10 furlongs, his last 4 furlongs ran in 45.8 off what was already a good pace - very impressive. Timeform awarded him a huge figure equivalent to a 115 Beyer. If they’re brave they could go up again to the Arc but I get the feeling they’ll play it safe & run in the Irish Champion/Champion stakes.
Mishriff put in a good effort here, breaking a lot better than he had in his last 2 starts & running a solid figure of about 107 Beyer just slightly below what he did when winning this race last year. I think a flat track suits him better (ran best races here & in Dubai). He’s got plenty of options but I’d be surprised if they went to Ascot again, especially if Baaeed is there. The Breeders Cup Turf should suit him ok (I think 12f is ok for him, the King George was run at an extreme pace & he threw away so much ground at the start). They could try the Classic but given his slow starts, it would be a big risk.
Yorkshire Oaks
The Yorkshire Oaks was run at a slow pace but both Alpinista & Tuesday were positioned nicely just off the pace. They had a good duel in the straight with Alpinista just finding enough. She’s a very likable filly & here she proved her defeat of last year’s Arc winner was no fluke, the next stop for her is the Arc & perhaps she will go on to the Breeders Cup Turf. It’s tricky with the slow pace but I estimate she ran to about a 106 Beyer here.
Tuesday bounced back to form after a below-par effort in the Irish Derby running around a 101 Beyer. She’s shown in both of her 12F races that she’s got plenty of pace so they may opt to drop her back to 10f for the Irish Champion. She will probably show up for either the Breeders Cup Turf or the Filly & Mare Turf with the shorter trip there maybe suiting her a little more.
La Petite Coco was well positioned given the slow pace but this was still a decent effort & she could well go to the Filly & Mare Turf.
Nunthorpe
Highfield Princess is a very likable mare who is in the form of her life, she got a nice lead of the flying 2-year-old filly here away from the crosswind which probably affected those drawn low but she came home strongly in a good time - 105 Beyer. Connections are aiming her at the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint & she must go there with a sporting chance.
The Platinum Queen showed lots of speed here & considering 2 year olds have often been stuffed in this, I thought it was a fair effort. The Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint would be a good fit for her.