Sky Bet York Stakes 2011 - Royal Ascot woes for Twice Over not to stop Sir Henry Cecil from entering
Picking up a few wins here and there, Twice Over still hasn’t shown that he can be as consistent as other top class horses.
The Royal Ascot meet was a disappointment for the Sir Henry Cecil trained horse and the six-year old’s performance at the royal jamboree summed up his season.
Winning Group 1 races three times, all 1 mile 2 furlong events, which were equivalent to the distance in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, he failed to fill the hopes of trainer, Sir Henry Cecil, and shot out a dismal run in the royal meet, finishing fifth behind
the leader Rewilding by an overwhelming 17 lengths.
It has been a dry 2011 season for the six-year old brown horse as he has done himself no favours to be considered for something big, or, to shore up his reputation among the racing community.
Having suffered in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup where he finished 9th on a 14 horse field, Twice Over, guided by Tom Queally couldn’t make his mark in the Lockinge Stakes, or at Newbury. He was put back on a mile when he ran at Newbury but shortening
the distance didn’t bring Sir Henry Cecil any luck.
With all the disappointment surrounding Twice Over, to be fair he had his share of bad luck, especially at the Royal Ascot.
On 17 June 2008, Twice Over made his Royal Ascot debut at the age of three and impressed both trainer and owner when he finished a respectable and a hard fought third in the Group 1 St. James’s Palace Stakes.
One year later, as a four year old, Twice Over tried his luck yet again but the field of eight proved to be a tall order. He gave a weak performance in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes on 17 June 2009, finishing fourth.
Third time lucky, Sir Henry Cecil would have had his fingers crossed when he entered his, then five-year old, in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes but the elusive Group 1 race proved to take its toll on Twice Over yet again. He finished second and it
was the closest he came to a win at the Royal Ascot.
Now it seems Sir Henry Cecil has re-gained confidence in the six-year old horse as he prepares the son of Observatory for the Group 1 Sky Bet York Stakes on 23 July.
Sir Henry Cecil believes that Twice Over is in top form and his weak performance in the Royal Ascot was very surprising. He seems to work and run fine in the sessions but something intimidates him when he is about to race.
The upside to his form is that he has won the Group 1 Coral Eclipse at Sandown last year and to re-capture his form Sir Henry Cecil is ready to run him in the Sky Bet York Stakes.
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