Newmarket Saturday preview: What the trainers say

Alflaila bids to put the seal on an excellent week for trainer Owen Burrows with victory in the Masar Darley Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.

The Lambourn handler was in Paris last weekend to see his progressive four-year-old Anmaat make it three from three for the season in the Group Two Qatar Prix Dollar. Seven days on, fellow Shadwell-owned runner Alflaila is out to complete a hat-trick of his own after winning the Listed Pomfret Stakes at Pontefract and the Group Three Strensall at York this summer.

Burrows said: “He came out of York very well. He was in the Prix Dollar last weekend as well, but we always thought that would be Anmaat’s race. Alflaila has got to carry a little penalty for his Strensall win, but he’s progressing and going the right way, so let’s hope he can continue in that way.”

Alflaila’s rivals in the nine-furlong Group Three including Simon and Ed Crisford’s Finest Sound, who was last seen finishing third in a Group One in Canada and was second to Alflaila at York.

There are four Godolphin-owned runners in the field, with Charlie Appleby’s pair of Royal Fleet and Ottoman Fleet joined by Saeed bin Suroor-trained duo Passion And Glory and Dubai Mirage.

Appleby said: “The Darley Stakes is a great race which we have been lucky to win a few times. It is a ‘win and you’re in’ to Bahrain now, so it is a great springboard for some of these horses, and for Royal Fleet Bahrain is potentially one of his targets if we are lucky enough to win on Saturday. He won on his reappearance at Goodwood at Listed level, carrying a penalty, and he goes into the race in great order.

“With Ottoman Fleet Fleet we are coming back in trip again, but he travelled very well when second at Newbury last time. He looked all over the winner apart from inside the last 100 yards really.”

The card gets under way with the Godolphin Flying Start Zetland Stakes – a Group Three contest Appleby won 12 months ago with Goldspur.

This year the Moulton Paddocks handler is represented by Flying Honours, who bids to bounce back from an odds-on defeat when third in a slowly-run Royal Lodge Stakes a fortnight ago.

“William (Buick) said himself he would have loved to have gone on and made the gallop himself in the Royal Lodge,” Appleby added.“But for a young horse that will be running over middle-distances as a three-year-old, we didn’t want to be putting him up on the front end and having horses running at him – we wanted to do it the right way round. Unfortunately, no one wanted to go forward and it became a dash to the finish, and needless to say a Sea The Stars colt wasn’t going to be suited by a sprint.”

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