Richard Fahey stable tour including Midnight Mile, Ramazan and Royal Ascot targets
Our columnist Richard Fahey talks us through his three-year-old and older horses as the Musley Bank yard gears up for Royal Ascot and beyond.
WATCH: Richard Fahey interview
ADMIRAL D
He needs to drop down in grade and get his head in front to gain some confidence. He’s had some tough assignments but runs the same race wherever we run him over six or seven furlongs. I do feel there’s a bit of an engine in there if we can just tune it and try and get his confidence up.
CLEARPOINT
He’s been extremely disappointing and I’m saying that about a 90 rated well above average horse. We thought he was the real deal. His work has always been very solid and very good. I just want to keep him off the very fast ground.
It’s crazy, it’s gone from heavy at Thrisk, which I don’t think he really appreciated first time back, to quick but I’m sure we can get him going in the right direction again and win more races.
GINCIDENT
He’s won three races already this season and was just a little outclassed at Haydock in a valuable handicap. He’ll find his level again just down a little in grade.
GREAT STATE
A horse who as a two-year-old we couldn’t really get right. There was nothing wrong with him, but he just wasn’t pulling out right and we couldn’t get any consistency going.
This year he’s a completely different horse. I did want to wait for the handicap at Royal Ascot with him but we went to a Listed race at York which he won well and was shoved up 16 pounds off the back of it. He’s still progressive though and gets his head down and knows how to win.
He’s nice and we’ll probably run him in the Scurry Stakes on June 17 next. He’ll have a three pounds penalty but there isn’t a whole lot for him over the next six weeks so we’ll go there and see what happens.
HAVE SECRET
I was very pleased with his run in the London Gold Cup at Newbury but it was a frustrating race to watch. We had two runners in it and 50 yards out they were first and second only to get wet sailed down the outside by three other runners.
Both he and Old Smoke have run good races. I’m going to take Have Secret to the mile-and-a-half handicap at Royal Ascot as we think he might stay. I did read the other day someone saying he doesn’t get ten furlongs but he won over that trip as a juvenile so you’d imagine 12 furlongs might be right up his street.
We’re going to have a crack at Ascot, give the owners a day out and see what happens.
MARINE WAVE
A tough and genuine filly who I thought ran a very solid race when third at Chelmsford on her reappearance. She’s quite quick – indeed has got quicker this year – but the main thing will be to just keep topping up the Black Type. It would be great to win a Listed or Group race.
MIDNIGHT MILE
I was a fraction disappointed with the trainer after her run in the Musidora. I genuinely thought she was going to stay on and finish second, but she just got a little tired. It’s going to be a tough season for her, she’s a Group Three winner, and my two aims are to win a Group One, which will be tough, and get as much Black Type as we can.
Early season there aren’t many races that are knocking me over to run in them but there are later in the year and I was happy enough with her at York but disappointed she got as tired as she did.
The Prix de Diane was on my mind, but it does look an extremely warm race this year. I’ll keep an eye on it but she’s also in the Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot and we’ll make that decision closer to the time.
NO NAY NICKI
A really frustrating filly because she’s one we like. I really fancied her at York on her return, but she got turned sideways early in the race and never got back into it. She’s extremely well handicapped but things have to drop right, and I think her day will come.
RAMAZAN
It was a good solid run on his reappearance at York. He was quite porky when he went to the races but travelled well having seen a bit too much daylight. He’ll go to the Britannia which I think will suit him down to the ground. They go a flat-out gallop and we’ll ride a race on him. He’ll come home – but whether he’ll come home in front we’ll have to see.
ROUSING ENCORE
He’s been disappointing this season and I’m just a tad worried he overachieved as a two-year-old. What I mean by that is he was second in the Mill Reef and was carrying a big rating afterwards. But he’s down to 97 now and I’ll probably go for the big three-year-old sprint handicap at York and hopefully he’ll find his mark. He’s a very genuine and honest horse who’s just been finding it tough in the upper tiers but hopefully going back handicapping might suit.
SPIRIT DANCER
I thought he ran a mighty race first time back at York, I was very pleased with him. He had a little bit of a setback last year and got very fat over the winter, he was huge, and I said before York it was probably the fattest I’d ever sent a horse to the races.
I could see people were fancying him but I couldn’t have it, but he ran a really good race and just got tired at the wrong time, right at the end of the race. He’ll improve a ton for that and is still on the up which is incredible really. We’ll look at the John Smith’s Cup with him and maybe a handicap at Royal Ascot too.
STRIKE RED
He is what he is and had a great season last year. I thought he ran alright when sixth on his return at Newmarket. He ran okay at Epsom and he’ll run in all the top handicaps now, hopefully he’ll win one.
THE RIDLER
He’s been very disappointing this year. His first run back over seven furlongs in the Greenham, he was too keen and that’s not his trip then Neil Callan felt he went wrong in the Sandy Lane ay Haydock.
Straight after the race he trotted up sound. Neil did the right thing but we can’t find anything wrong with him so we’ll just carry on. He was in the Commonwealth Cup, but I’d imagine he’ll be taken out.
VINTAGE CLARETS
He ran well at Musselburgh then they just didn’t go quick enough for him at Ripon last time. He loves them to go flat out – and that’s why I kept him for Epsom but of course he had no chance due to the stalls not opening in time. He ran the best of those affected, I just feel aggrieved for my owner, but hopefully it shows we have a horse to challenge with in these big sprint handicaps.