John & Thady Gosden head into Royal Ascot week under no apprehensions of how hard it will be to secure success, having landed the trainers’ title in 2021 with four winners and a second.
In Platinum Jubilee year, it would be fitting if the Gosdens could lift the Hampton Court Stakes with Reach For The Moon for Her Majesty The Queen.
The gladiator Stradivarius, star of three Gold Cups and a Queen’s Vase, is back for another crack at the stayers’ crown and unlucky Oaks runner-up Emily Upjohn quickly reappearing is a distinct possibility, as she looks for compensation in the Ribblesdale Stakes which the team won last year with Loving Dream.
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Image: Frankie Dettori poses with connections of Stradivarius in the York winner's enclosure Stradivarius
(Gold Cup)
It’s one thing training an eight-year-old gelding and another training an eight-year-old full horse, but he is happy and well and we are hoping the weather holds for him and we get the chance to run on something called good ground in the Gold Cup rather than soft or heavy, which isn’t his scene.
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Going to Goodwood last year, you don’t expect the first day to be run on heavy ground as it’s summer racing. He runs how he runs and he gets to the stage where he gets there and knows how to race. He doesn’t want to be left with a tremendous amount to do but on the other hand, if he gets there too earlier, it’s not a good idea either.
He is just an old pro now and goes in the ring and does what he has to do. He had bad luck with ground last year but he is still up to running a huge race in the Gold Cup, as long as the ground isn’t soft or heavy.
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Image: Lord North Lord North
(Prince of Wales’s Stakes)
Lord North goes for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes and we would be very frightened of Shahryar and Sir Michael Stoute’s Bay Bridge.
Our fella is a grand horse and he has won it before, but he needs to be ridden a little differently to the way he was ridden in Ireland. He is in good form and he got too close to the strong pace in Ireland.
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We will try and ride him from a bit further back; it’s a very high-class race and so it should be.
Magical Morning
(Royal Hunt Cup)
He put up a good performance when winning at Doncaster recently and carries a 5lb penalty in the Hunt Cup.
Again, it’s a very competitive race and we will probably claim off him.
Image: Nashwa (green) chases home Oaks front two Tuesday and Emily Upjohn at Epsom Emily Upjohn
(Ribblesdale Stakes)
She is in the Ribblesdale and it wouldn’t have been the original intention but she has handled it well. The Oaks obviously didn’t go smoothly, but we will leave her in at the five-day stage. It’s not normal but I have done it before and have had luck doing it, and won the race with fillies that have run in the Oaks.
We will see how she is and leave a decision until late. The Ribblesdale is the right sort of race – she hasn’t won a Group 2 and the other thing is you wait until the end of July and look at two possible races and then you have to wait for the Yorkshire Oaks, and then you have to wait again.
She is in good form and it is something that needs to be considered and thoroughly looked at. She had four races in her life and she is fine after the Oaks and eating well and looking well and she seems happy, so we will keep the options open.
Image: Reach For The Moon and Frankie Dettori winning at Newbury last season Reach For The Moon
(Hampton Court Stakes)
He sustained an injury in the spring and you have to go very, very gently and it wasn’t going to happen in time for him to go for the Derby.
Obviously, the owner/breeder (The Queen) is very understanding so it made the decision simple and he will go for the Hampton Court Stakes over a mile and a quarter.
It would be amazing if he could win the race in Jubilee year. He is quite a character and likes to play and has lots of spirit about him. Let’s hope he puts in a big run there and I hope we don’t get too wide a draw.
Image: Inspiral and Frankie Dettori after winning the bet365 Fillies' Mile Inspiral
(Coronation Stakes)
She has been very slow to come to hand and it can happen, hormonally, with some fillies in the spring; she has just taken a long time to come right and you don’t want to rush them.
She is pleasing us now and going the right way and she goes for the Coronation, for which Mr Weld will be favourite (Homeless Songs).
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Mighty Ulysses
(St James’s Palace Stakes)
He is in the St James’s Palace Stakes and he was given a rating of 110 after his last run in a handicap so we are now forced to head in that sort of direction with him.
Far Shot
(Windsor Castle Stakes)
He made a pleasing debut when winning at Yarmouth and goes for the Windsor Castle Stakes.
We did the same with Ardad but Aidan (O’Brien) has some pretty powerful ones in the Windsor Castle, the Norfolk and the Chesham so we will see.
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