Timeform's Horses To Follow for the 2024 Flat season: Shuwari
Our latest extract from Timeform's Horses To Follow for the 2024 Flat season focuses on Simon Baker's selection, Shuwari.
Shuwari (Ollie Sangster)
Sandown’s Star Stakes, a seven-furlong contest for juvenile fillies, holds listed status but was won by Inspiral two seasons ago and the latest winner, Shuwari, also looks capable of striking at the highest level after landing an exceptionally strong renewal. Soprano was sent off the 11/8 favourite having finished third in the Group 3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot, but she was unable to go with a couple of promising once-raced winners in Shuwari and Fallen Angel, with the former gaining the half-length verdict. Shuwari wouldn’t be seen again until tackling the Rockfel Stakes at Newmarket a couple of months later but her reputation had soared in the interim thanks to the exploits of Fallen Angel who had confirmed her superiority over Soprano in the Sweet Solera Stakes and then posted another decisive victory in the Moyglare Stud Stakes to make the Group 1 breakthrough.
Shuwari lost her unbeaten record in the Rockfel but she shaped nicely in second having been set a tough task, doing well to make up as much ground as she did without ever threatening to challenge the winner who was much better positioned. Shuwari was unsurprisingly ridden much more prominently in the Fillies’ Mile when next seen, though on that occasion she was arguably sent for home a bit too soon in a race run at a strong gallop and again had to settle for second, losing out by half a length to Ylang Ylang who had been third in the Rockfel.
There’s a feeling that Shuwari wasn’t seen to best effect in either of her races in the autumn but her verdict over Fallen Angel—who finished the season as the highest-rated juvenile filly in Britain—suggests that she could take high rank in the division if things fall right. If she comes up short over a mile her connections will have the option of stepping up in trip as she’s bred to stay a mile and a quarter.
Simon Baker says:
"I’d argue that Shuwari might well have been the best horse in both the Rockfel and the Fillies’ Mile, being set too much to do in the former and, conversely, making her effort earlier than ideal in the latter. Her earlier win over Fallen Angel reads especially well, and she surely won’t need to improve much over the winter to develop into a serious 1000 Guineas contender for an up-and-coming stable."
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.