Ayr Saturday
Livescore Bet Doonside Cup
SEAN Levey broke new ground at Ayr on Saturday when the willing Persica landed the Listed Doonside Cup for guv’nor Richard Hannon, that success being the jockey’s first at the track in a storied career.
Fresh from his victory in the Leger aboard Jan Brueghel, Levey is riding at the top of his game, and his tactical riding here was excellent, keeping Jim Crowley and favourite Enfjaar (Roger Varian) in a pocket as the race began to take shape and gaining first run.
Kicking clear on the 9/2 chance with fully two furlongs to go, he then found a rallying Enfjaar coming at him hard in the final furlong but held on grimly to score by half a length, with Eydon (Andrew Balding/P J McDonald) joining the favourite on the line to force a dead-heat for second.
“He looked amazing in the paddock but to be fair, he has done all year,” Levey said after the race. “All he’s done is kept on improving. It’s slim pickings through the week but it’s nice to have a few Saturday horses to cling to, and it’s even nicer when they are winning!”
The unexposed Sky Majesty (William Haggas/Callum Rodriguez) made it two wins from as many runs when beating more experienced fillies in the Group 3 Firth of Clyde Stakes.
Well supported into 16/5 favourite, the daughter of Blue Point, owned jointly by Tony Bloom and Ian McAleavy, made headway from the rear at halfway before throwing down a strong challenge to Grande Marques (Fozzy Stack/Danny Tudhope) in the final furlong.
After a short tussle, Sky Majesty edged ahead to record a neck victory over the strong-finishing Maw Lam (Adrian Nicholls/Connor Murtagh), who shaded second by a short-head over Grande Marques, who was ridden more prominently than the pair who beat her and emerged with plenty of credit.
The race was run in a very quick time, breaking the old course record for juveniles, in fact, helped by quick ground and a following wind.
The winner, a half-sister to 2019 Ayr Gold Cup hero Angel Alexander and recent Beverley Bullet winner Democracy Dilemma, is all speed and looks a smart prospect bearing in mind her inexperience for a race like this.
“She’s good,” was Callum Rodriguez’s succinct appraisal. “Sky Majesty picked up great when I asked and showed a great attitude when it mattered.”
Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup
There was another course record in the Gold Cup itself, with Lethal Levi (Clifford Lee) leading home a remarkable 1-2-3 for trainer Karl Burke, the gelding winning at odds of 20/1 from stablemates Silkie Wilkie (66/1) and Korker (40/1).
Anyone lucky enough to have hit the trifecta got paid £60,053.90 to a £1 stake in a race where it paid to race towards the stands side.
Burke had previously saddled a 1-2 in the race when Always Alight beat previous winner Daring Destiny in 1998, but this result overshadowed even that feat in a race which is one of the most competitive of the whole season. When asked for his reaction, an understated Burke replied: “That was a nice result, wasn’t it?”
“This was quite remarkable,” Burke went on. “And fair play to the whole team, everybody works hard, and the horses are in great shape. The season has been amazing, and I hope it hasn’t finished yet.”
Newbury Saturday
HE rode plenty of them in an illustrious riding career, but it’s taken Richard Hughes the guts of a decade to train his first group winner, so the victory of No Half Measures (Ryan Moore) in the Group 3 Dubai International Airport World Trophy will mean plenty to the Upper Lambourn handler.
Proven in soft ground, No Half Measures coped better with the heavy conditions better than her rivals to produce a career-best effort at an SP of 6/1.
It was a 1-2 in the race for three-year-old fillies, with Relief Rally (William Haggas/Tom Marquand) just holding Annaf (Mick Appleby/Jason Watson) for second in the heavy ground, a length and a quarter behind the improving winner, who was winning a Class 4 handicap just a few months ago.
Sixth win
This was her sixth win of the campaign, and she keeps progressing, with Hughes running her in the Prix du Petit Couvert at Longchamp just six days prior to this breakthrough, and keen to go back there next month.
“She’s come from humble beginnings but just keeps improving and there’s no reason for it,” said Hughes.
“We throw her out in the field every day and she’s just so easy. I decided we’d roll the dice and take a chance today. She’s in the Abbaye and the reason I ran her last weekend was because I wanted her to have a try on that track,” the trainer added
Mill Reef Stakes
The Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes was weakened by the defection of four of the 10 declared runners, but still produced a winner of some potential in the shape of Powerful Glory (Richard Fahey/Oisin Orr) who raced prominently and held the late challenge of La Bellota (John Ryan/Darragh Keenan) by a neck in testing conditions.
The winner drifted to an SP of 5/2 but belied that market weakness to remain unbeaten, having looked a smart prospect on debut at Pontefract. The first two raced towards the near side rail, and the winner is held in high regard by Fahey and was perhaps winning despite conditions, a notion bolstered by his rider.
“Everything Powerful Glory has shown has been speed,” said Orr after the race. “But he’s big and scopey as well and, if he learns to relax and race right, there’s no reason why he can’t get further. At home there’s nothing we have to gallop with him, so I think he’s pretty smart.”
THERE were a couple of significant retirements at the weekend, and both Franny Norton and Not So Sleepy did so in style, the latter making most and rallying to gain back-to-back victories in the Autumn Cup at Newbury and immediately retired (as had been promised) by Hughie Morrison on that high note.
Not So Sleepy has been hard to predict at times, but as game as a pebble on his going days and was a high-class dual-purpose performer who relished the mud, winning 12 races and earning over £600,000 in prize money for owner Lady Blyth.
Calling time
Franny Norton has become synonymous with Chester over the years, so it was appropriate that the 54-year-old should call time on his 25-year career by riding a treble on Saturday aboard Raneenn, Small Fry, and Qitaal. In all, 157 of Norton’s 1900-odd winners have come at the Roodee, so it’s no surprise that he considers it his favourite course, and he celebrated the end of an era accordingly.