Anna Salai ready for Coronation
Royal Ascot may be the ultimate gathering for the great and the good of Flat racing but the two great powerhouses of the sport have been conspicuous mainly by their absence from the winner’s enclosure.
It took two winners, in the Royal Hunt Cup and Ribblesdale Stakes, to see Godolphin arrive there after nine races had passed, for the 32nd time overall, and the might of the Aidan O’Brien yard has huffed and puffed without success thus far. Both are represented in the Coronation Stakes, the Group One feature on the fourth day’s card.
Those 32 winners for Goldolphin, have all been trained by Saeed bin Suroor but Anna Salai is trained by their new man on the team, Mahmood Al Zarooni. Anna Salai was transferred from André Fabre’s Godolphin yard in France and she looked a good prospect when she broke her maiden in style with a victory in a Group Three race at Longchamp in April. Aside from style there was also substance as she beat the highly regarded Rosanara by two-and-a-quarter lengths. That filly has since run Special Duty to within a length in the Poule D'Essai Des Pouliches and then finished second in the Prix De Diane.
Anna Salai was beaten a head in by Bethrah in the Irish 1000 Guineas, with Music Show third, Lillie Langtry fifth, Famous 13th and Gile Na Greine 17th, but Gile Na Greine is better judged on her third to Special Duty in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket although, through a mixture of rain-softened ground and draw bias, that form looks suspect.
Anna Salai led over one-and-a-half furlongs out in the Irish Guineas. She was never able to kick clear and was worn down in the final strides. It may be harsh to criticise the tactics of her rider, Ahmed Ajtebi, but Frankie Dettori takes the ride today and it would not be a surprise if the filly was ridden just a shade more conservatively.
The Group Two King Edward VII Stakes brings together the usual collection of horses who ran in the Derby, headed by the colt who finished runner-up to Workforce, At First Sight. But the most progressive horse in the field could be Harry Dunlop’s Green Moon, who is stepping up in class in his attempt for a fourth successive win, having worked through maiden, handicap and Listed levels so far this season.
The turf Flat season may have started in late March for the rest, but Sir Mark Prescott has never been one to follow the herd. His first runners did not emerge from his Heath House yard in Newmarket until May, but have been making up for lost time.
A 19% strike-rate for May has been eclipsed by a 44% figure for June and Hooray can improve upon that record in the Group Three Albany Stakes. Hooray looked smart when winning her maiden on the Polytrack at Kempton Park at the beginning of the month, and appears to be favourably drawn in 19 for this 23-runner field.
The big danger, less well drawn perhaps in stall six, is Radharcnafarraige. Jim Bolger’s two-year-olds are worth following when they run in Britain, where he has a 31% strike-rate for the last five seasons. The filly was not an instant success but that may simply be because of the soft ground that was prevalent in Ireland this spring. Radharcnafarraige clearly seems to have improved for running on the sort of ground she will find here, winning her maiden at Naas last month and then returning to win a Group Three last week, for which she does not have to carry a penalty in this race.
The Wolferton Handicap seems to revolve around Rainbow Peak, who ran up a sequence last season and looked unlucky last time out. But Kingdom Of Fife, who is dropping back from Group company, could be one for an upset.
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