Canford Cliffs hard to get over in Greenham Stakes
An audition for the top job and the two front-runners appear almost impossible to split. No, not Gordon Brown and David Cameron, this contest will provide far more action.
Arcano and Canford Cliffs meet again in the 2000 Guineas trial, the Group Three Bathwick Tyres Greenham Stakes, at Newbury eight months after they clashed in the Prix Morny at Deauville. Then the pair were split by a half-length, in Arcano’s favour, but the race itself appeared slightly inconclusive and neither colt ran again.
Picking through the evidence, Canford Cliffs did not appear to race with any of the zest that he showed when he won the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot. The form of that race was franked when Xtension went on to win the Group Two Vintage Stakes at Goodwood and then finish a close third in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket last October. Arcano’s form has been boosted this week by Red Jazz, three-and-three-quarter lengths third Arcano in the July Stakes, who won the European Free Handicap at Newmarket.
Of the three other runners in the Greenham, Canford Cliff’s stable companion, d**k Turpin, looks likely to play of the role of Nick Clegg in this contest but the final vote goes to Canford Cliffs. The Richard Hannon yard is in flying form, with a 21% strike-rate for this month, while Brian Meehan, the trainer of Arcano, has yet to register a winner this season.
Meehan also has a fancied runner in the 1000 Guineas trial, the Group Three Dubai Duty Free Fred Darling Stakes, with Lady Of The Desert. With the relative lack of stable form in mind it seems reasonable that Misheer, who finished a head in front Lady Of The Desert when the pair were second and third to Special Duty in the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket last autumn, can confirm that form.
The Group Three Dubai Duty Free John Porter Stakes gathers an eclectic mix of horses ranging from seasoned veterans like Purple Moon, upgrading handicappers such as Dansili Dancer to lightly-raced four-year-olds like Buxted, who is unbeaten in three runs on the all-weather, which included a Listed win at Kempton last month. However, the form of that race has not worked out very well and Harbinger represents a compromise choice.
He looked like a St Leger candidate when he won the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood last summer but then ran a very poor race to finish last in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York and found the soft ground against him when he was third in the St Simon Stakes at Newbury.
His trainer, Sir Michael Stoute, has viewed Harbinger as something of a work in progress with this season as the one where the colt will display the full measure of his talent. And few trainers are better at nurturing a late-developing type than Stoute who has a 23% strike-rate in Group races with older horses.
Irish Heartbeat looks well treated by the handicapper for Berry Bros & Rudd Magnum Spring Cup, having gone up just 4lbs for winning at Doncaster on the first day of the season. However, his best form has come on ground that is softer than he will encounter here and Big Bay may be one to go in at a price. He got a bit lost in the crowd when running down the field in the Britannia Handicap at Royal Ascot but has won twice since and has the scope to improve.
At Ayr the Coral Scottish Grand National looks wide open, even by the standards of a 30-runner handicap chase. However extreme distance and a quick racing surface does not suit all horses but it may be just the right combination for No Panic.
He is not the most prolific of winners – five from 29 starts – but all of those wins have come on ground that was good or faster, he has won over an extended three miles and his trainer, Peter Bowen, has hit form at just the right time with a 29% strike-rate for this month.
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