Music Show stars for Kieren Fallon in Nell Gwyn Stakes
So much for the tribulations of trial races then. The new-age thinking is that prep races for the early Classics have had their day, passé to the point that they do not even merit a place in the new order of a redesigned premier Flat season.
Granted the crowd for the first day of Newmarket's Craven meeting might not be of the level to have those who are only in thrall to the music of a clicking turnstile but there were four races which had a bearing, to some degree, on each of the first four Classics.
Several of the leading contenders for next month's stanjames.com 1,000 Guineas will not run before the race but Music Show set a high benchmark when she won the Group Three Leslie Harrison Memorial Nell Gwyn Stakes. Breaking from stall 11, Music Show was tight to the rail but Kieren Fallon dropped the filly off the early pace set by Srda when he thought his way was blocked. He then brought Music Show for a switch run down the outside of the field from half-way.
To her credit Music Show responded but she was still two lengths down on Jacqueline Quest and Hafawa hitting the final furlong. But Music Show, who tired in the last 50 yards, pulled clear to beat Blue Maiden by a half-length. Her trainer, Mick Channon, said before the race that his filly would need the run and she won despite having to concede a 3lb penalty to her rivals for her victory in the Group Two Rockfel Stakes last season.
"She did what she did in the Rockfel, so I would say I'd be pleased,” Channon said. “She's just gone very lazy this year and I just wanted to get a run into her."
The run impressed many observers but Fallon may not be riding her come the Guineas. First he will be riding Lady Of The Desert for Jaber Abdullah, the owner of Music Show, in the Dubai Duty Free Fred Darling Stakes at Newbury on Saturday and then there is the option of riding Seta, trained by Luca Cumani, who is one of those who will make her seasonal debut in the Guineas itself.
It leaves Fallon with a potentially enviable choice but Channon was left with no real choice once he decided that Music Show would need a prep run. "If it wasn't for the other filly I'd have gone to Newbury," he explained. "Jabr's got two good horses so we've got to go different places. So we came here, with a penalty."
There was a moment when it appeared that Music Show might pay the penalty for being trapped on the rail, before Fallon's mid-race manoeuvre and the filly's withering burst of speed. "She's got a lot of class," Channon said. "I always knew she had a lot of class. When you're stuck on the rail - and you get shuffled back like she did,” he said, before changing his thoughts mid-sentence “but he didn't mess about. He knew what he had under him and he took her wide. The rest is history."
History often points out that those horses who appear unlucky when losing are often beaten fair and square. However, Timepiece's defeat in the Blue Square Feilden Stakes may yet prove the exception to that rule. She could not match the pace of the winner, Rumoush, over this nine furlongs but was checked in her run more than once. The pair now head the market for the Oaks – although Rumoush could conceivably take in the Guineas first - and Timepiece may well have the edge if they meet again over a mile-and-a-half.
Coordinated Cut was installed as a leading contender for the Derby before he made his racecourse debut at Doncaster last September, then he was cast into the wilderness when he failed miserably in the Racing Post Trophy on the same track the following month. Now he is back in vogue once more having won the Tattersalls Timeform Three-Year-Old Trophy. He led from three furlongs out but was headed by Ameer who, hanging right, tightened Coordinated Cut up against the rail. Jamie Spencer had to stop riding the winner for a few strides as he lost two lengths, which were made up in a powerful final furlong to snatch victory in the shadow of the post.
Michael Bell, who has taken over the training of Coordinated Cut this season, nominated the Dante Stakes, at York next month, as the likely Derby trial for the colt but there was no such clear-cut plan for Red Jazz, the winner of the bluesquare.com European Free Handicap.
The Free Handicap winner has not gone on to success in either Guineas since Mystiko in 1991 and Red Jazz is unlikely to improve on that statistic with the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot a more likely target.
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