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Rainfall looks smart in Jersey Stakes

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Rainfall looks smart in Jersey Stakes

On a day when summer escaped from wherever it had been kept under lock and key, Rainfall might not have been the most obvious name for the winner of the Group Three Jersey Stakes.

But then it would have taken more than the resources of the Met Office to have predicted the filly being a Royal Ascot winner just two months ago.

Ryan Moore is something of a rare booking for Mark Johnson, but the champion jockey knows how the trainer likes his horses to run, and he had Rainfall quickly away from the stalls. She was joined by Red Jazz, whom Michael Hills committed with two furlongs to run. That move had Shakespearean, the favourite ridden by Frankie Dettori, off the bridle, but Red Jazz could not quite shake off Rainfall.

The pair were locked together in the last two furlongs, as they drifted from centre course over to the far rail. Rainfall was in front with a half-furlong to run but Red Jazz rallied for one last thrust.  But, Rainfall, who was the first filly to win the race since Satin Flower in 1991, broke the course record as she beat Red Jazz by a head with Rock Jock in third.

Johnson rarely misses out on a visit to the winner’s enclosure at this meeting and Rainfall (pictured left) was his 31st Royal Ascot winner. She runs in the colours of Sheikh Mohammed’s son, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed al Maktoum, and, having not run as a two-year-old, has been making up for lost time by winning her maiden at Thirsk on May 1st and then running a promising second in a Listed race at Haydock Park three weeks ago.

“I thought this was a bit of a tall order but she’s done nothing wrong since she came to us,” Johnson said. “Obviously it’s quick jumps from the maiden to the Listed race to this but she’s a very, very genuine, honest, straightforward filly to train. Couldn’t be easier to be honest.

“She had shown a bit at home and everyone thought quite a bit of her. She’s very laid back and saves her best for race day. If you look at her she has not quite come in her coat so hopefully there’s more to come.

“She has a few entries, mostly foreign entries that have been made in the past few weeks, but there are no long-term plans because she has burst onto the scene very quickly. We’ll have to sit down and talk to the owner.

“She came to me from Darley pre-training, which is a relatively new policy. I get some that are coming back that have had problems before and also two-year-olds that are coming through the ranks, to break them there and send them through and we send horse on to Godolphin. It’s all part of the big team effort, but it’s working very well for us.”

Maqaasid also broke the track record when she won the Group Two Queen Mary Stakes. The high-drawn horses were always in command with Meow leading until the last hundred yards when she was collared by John Gosden’s filly. It was a first winner in the race for Gosden, who said: “People who follow times will know that’s extremely fast - we have got a bit of a tail wind, but that’s quick. The plan is to go for six furlongs later in the year, but we don’t want to over-race her in the hope she might get a mile next year.

“She’s very relaxed, but as soon as she sees daylight she goes. She didn’t have to be taught that, she does it on auto-pilot. I’d hate to see her breaking head and head for the lead because she’d get four-and-a-half furlongs and not the final eighth.

“She’s naturally athletic, so given that she’s by Green Desert out of a Storm Cat mare my job was to keep her mentally settled. My assistant, Danny Harrop, rides her at home and he’s pretty good at getting them settled. You go with her, you don’t tell her what to do.

“The Cheveley Park Stakes would be a good aim. This is a stiff five furlongs and she’s done that well, but six furlongs will suit. She’s got scope about her. This is the race for a fast filly. If you have one the Queen Mary is all you talk about through the winter. I’ve been second in this race and it’s great to win it - it’s amazing what you can achieve if you live long enough.”

*Ascot’s clerk of the course, Chris Stickels, will water the course overnight to maintain the surface. He said: “The ground remains good to firm, good in places but all the time it continues to be sunny and blowy like it is now, the ground keeps drying.

“I will water tonight and intend to put six millimetres on the straight course and four millimetres on the round course.”

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  • Rainfall wins Jersey Stakes
    Ryan Moore got the second day of Royal Ascot off to a flying start with a victory on Rainfall in the Group Three Je...
    Category: Horse Racing | Posted: 10 years, 7 month(s) ago

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