John Gosden enjoys Newmarket treble on day two

A beautiful mind

Just 24 hours after playing down the future prospects of Khalidi, his winner of Tuesday’s feature race, John Gosden was fractionally less reserved over plans for Lanwades Stud Nell Gwyn Stakes winner Daban.

“You’ve got to look at the Guineas back here. You’re never fully wound up like a 10-day clock for a trial in April when the next race is soon afterwards, and she’ll come on again.”

Gosden professed to having his string nicely forward for the time of year after saddling two winners on day one of the Craven Meeting and he went one better numerically as Dancing Breeze and Middle Kingdom completed a Wednesday treble. The Newmarket maestro also sent out a couple of winners at Beverley, for good measure.

Daban, the least experienced horse in the Nell Gwyn along with disappointing French challenger Pamplemousse, showed a wicked turn of foot to come from the back of the pack and was ultimately eased down close home after mastering Unforgettable Filly.

The problem Gosden now has, if it can be classed as such, is how he goes about juggling Daban and Dabyah, the latter having shown high-class form when a close third in the Group One Marcel Boussac at Chantilly in October.

“We’ve got the two three-year-olds owned by the same gentleman, both purchased by Richard Brown (of Blandford Bloodstock), and they’re both very nice fillies,” said Gosden.

“We don’t get too cocky in this game. You know as well as I do there are other trials still to come. Plus there’s a lot of fillies who turn up fresh in the Guineas – and they can be anything.

“I just like the mind on her (Daban) and she’s a pleasure to be around.”

One out, one in?

There are presumably a multitude of virtues which help make Hugo Palmer the top-class trainer he is today, but being such a charming diplomat must be right near the top of the list.

Twelve months ago he put the finishing touches to Galileo Gold’s 2000 Guineas preparations with a racecourse gallop at the Craven Meeting, so understandably all eyes were on Escobar as he limbered up under Frankie Dettori alongside 80-rated sprinter St Brelades Bay, recently acquired by Palmer from Jessie Harrington.

All looked well pre-gallop. The horse was alert and on his toes in the parade ring, without being too agitated, and the power-packed son of Frankel appeared to have filled out nicely over the winter after disappointing on his final two-year-old outing in HQ’s Tattersalls Stakes.

However, not everything can go to plan all of the time, and Palmer didn’t have to say a great deal in the unsaddling area to make his feelings clear.

“We came here last year thinking it might tee Galileo Gold up for a trip to France and Frankie got off him and said ‘he’d win any Guineas I’ve ever ridden in’, but that’s not the feedback today unfortunately.

“It’s impossible to be absolutely definitive but he was disappointing here last year (in the Tattersalls) and there could be a chance that he just doesn’t enjoy the Dip.

“Frankie said he felt very well but we haven’t learnt a lot and in truth I was screaming in my head at them to go faster. It turned into a three-furlong sprint and that’s not what we came for. We certainly haven’t learnt the answer to the question.”

Precisely what that question was remained unclear, but if it happened to be ‘is Escobar good enough to win a Classic?’, then one fears the answer would have to be negative.

The amiable Palmer soon had more of a smile on his face after Unforgettable Filly’s promising second in the Nell Gwyn.

“She’ll tighten up for that and you should see a different filly on Guineas day,” he observed, in a pretty convincing manner.

Warning shot

Aidan O’Brien wasn’t present to collect the prize for the bet365 European Free Handicap Stakes but he’ll have been impressed from afar by the performance of Whitecliffsofdover, who made all the running under Ryan Moore.

We’ve become accustomed to seeing the Ballydoyle battalions mop up early three-year-old races ahead of the Classics but this represented new ground being broken as the son of War Front provided O’Brien with his first victory in the race.

There are a “lot of options” and a “lot of decisions still to be made over the next few weeks”, according to Coolmore’s UK representative Kevin Buckley, who reported Moore to have provided a very positive post-race debrief.

With Churchill, Caravaggio and Craven fancy War Decree all among the top five in the betting for the 2000 Guineas, the class of 2017 doesn’t look like straying too far from the all too familiar narrative.

One for the Lads

“I told the owners he was way too big a price around 10/1 and I quite fancied him.”

Unless you’re in the ‘magic circle’, sadly these small but priceless snippets of gold only ever come to light in post-race interviews and Richard Hannon wasn’t getting fed up of being patted on the back by the wealthy folk who pay the bills after outsider Steel Of Madrid landed the bet365 Earl Of Sefton Stakes from Godolphin’s market leader Folkswood.

Dropping back to nine furlongs proved a real masterstoke for a horse who had won at this course last May before going off the boil towards the end of the season, and he’s obviously what those in the game like to call ‘a fun horse’.

Hannon has some more serious business to take care of in the next few days as 2000 Guineas contenders Larchmont Lad and Barney Roy put their Classic claims on the line.

The former, recently purchased by Cheveley Park Stud, runs in Thursday’s bet365 Craven Stakes, a race the Hannon family have won eight times in the past.

“He’s a horse we thought a lot of last year and the Free Handicap form today is a bit of a boost for him (Larchmont Lad beat Whitecliffsofdover in the Tattersalls Stakes in September).

“The Craven is when we all see what we’ve really got and I’d say with him that he might just come on for it, but he’s ready to do himself justice.”

Barney Roy, recently purchased by Godolphin, runs in Saturday’s JLT Greenham Stakes at Newbury, a race the Hannons have won six times.

“Barney Roy has been working well and we’re delighted with him. He could still be a little bit green as working on a narrow gallop can be a whole lot different to when they get out on the track and he’s only had the one run, but he’s got an awful lot of ability."