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Horses to follow from the Mick Appleby yard including Big Evs and Annaf
Adam Houghton speaks to Mick Appleby, a trainer with some talented sprinters on his hands, including the Royal Ascot-winning juvenile Big Evs.
The nickname ‘Sprint King’ is often bandied about in racing circles, most often in reference to the late David ‘Dandy’ Nicholls, the man best known for his training of countless talented speedballs in a career spanning over two decades and 1,269 winners before his death in 2017.
Several other trainers have laid down a serious claim to the title of ‘Sprint King’ in recent years. Think Robert Cowell, responsible for the Group One-winning sprinters Goldream, Jwala and Prohibit, or perhaps even Archie Watson, who has left a big impression since sending out his first runners in 2016.
Having first made his name with the likes of Glen Shiel and Soldier’s Call, Watson took things to another level when landing three of the most competitive sprints run all season at Royal Ascot a couple of weeks ago, winning the King's Stand Stakes with Bradsell, the Palace of Holyrood House Stakes with Rhythm N Hooves and the Wokingham Stakes with Saint Lawrence.
It was certainly a memorable week for Watson, though it wasn’t quite enough for him to take top spot when I highlighted which trainers came out of Royal Ascot as the big winners and losers. Instead, that honour went to Mick Appleby, who saddled one winner and two thirds at the meeting, a noteworthy achievement considering he only had five runners and they each returned an SP of 18/1 or above.
That quintet were all sprinters and it was a week which underlined that Appleby too is very adept when it comes to training horses of that ilk. In fact, when excluding all two-year-old runners, Appleby has won 214 races run at sprint trips (six furlongs or below) in Britain since the start of the 2018 season, more than any other trainer, ahead of Tim Easterby (200), Paul Midgley (181) and Tony Carroll (180).
Big Evs looks a big talent
Group Three winner Danzeno and the Group Two-placed Caspian Prince are top of the class when it comes to the best sprinters Appleby has trained, but one thing they couldn't deliver was a breakthrough success at Royal Ascot, the biggest stage that Flat racing has to offer.
Step forward the two-year-old Big Evs, the 20/1 winner of the Windsor Castle Stakes at that meeting in 2023 and potentially another high-quality sprinter for Appleby to go to war with, both this season and beyond.
"Not really," Appleby replied when asked whether the win came as a surprise to him and his team. "He was very unlucky not to win first-time-out at Redcar. He was just drawn on the wrong side and did well to finish second really. If he’d won there, he probably would have been half the price he was at Ascot and more fancied.
"We went there with high hopes. I couldn’t see him being out of the first three, but then I didn’t see him winning like he did! He was very impressive and he’s definitely the best two-year-old I’ve had. We’ve had a few decent ones but nothing like him."
Bigger tasks now lie ahead for Big Evs, who has options at both Goodwood and York in the weeks ahead. His target on the West Sussex Downs seems to be set in stone, but how he performs there is likely to dictate which route he takes on the Knavesmire, specifically whether he sticks at five furlongs for an ambitious tilt at the Nunthorpe or steps up to six against his own age group in the Gimcrack.
Appleby explained: "The Molecomb is the next target for him and then we’ll see where we go after that. We didn’t enter him in the Nunthorpe, but it’s still in the back of our minds. We’ll see how we go at Goodwood and then decide whether we supplement him or not.
"The two-year-olds get a big weight allowance in the Nunthorpe, but they’ve not got a very good record in it. I think only two have won it in the last 35 years, so it would be a big ask up against the older horses. I think he would be up to it, but it’s whether we want to go that route or not.
"At this stage, I think we’d be more likely to stay at five furlongs because of how much pace he’s got. I would imagine he’ll definitely get six next year and he would possibly get it now on the right track. But there are plenty of options for him over five."
Star older horses heading to Sandown
In the more immediate future, Appleby is set to launch a two-pronged attack on Saturday's Coral Charge at Sandown with Annaf and Raasel, both of whom were last seen in action in the King's Stand Stakes at the Royal meeting.
It was Annaf who came out on top on that occasion, finishing an excellent third at odds of 50/1, and Appleby is understandably hopeful of another bold showing at Sandown.
Reflecting on the King's Stand, Appleby said: "Annaf ran an absolute blinder. He stayed on well and we were absolutely delighted with his run. I think that showed that he's just as good on turf as he is on the all-weather.
"I don’t think you’d say he’s weaker on either of them, it’s just the extremes he doesn’t like. He doesn’t like really soft ground and he doesn’t like it really firm. And on the all-weather he can go on all of the tracks. He’s pretty versatile.
"I think the stiff five furlongs at Sandown will really suit him. He might just be outpaced a bit early on, but he’s definitely going to be staying on. I think he should go well."
As for what happens after Sandown, Appleby is already plotting another exotic international raid for Annaf, one of the best sprinters to have come through the ranks at Langham Racing Stables and who may yet have more to offer.
Appleby summed up: "We’ve got plenty of options with him and I think we might aim to go to South Korea again. We went there last year and he ran well. A few things just didn’t go to plan, but we know what to expect if we go there again. I think he’d have a great chance and it’s obviously very good prize money out there.
"He seems to be getting better as he gets older. I think he’s definitely got a Group One in him and he's one of the best horses I’ve trained, probably in the top five. We picked him up pretty cheaply from Shadwell and he’d obviously had a few issues, so we gave him a bit of time and sorted those out. He’s repaid us well."
Though only tenth in the King's Stand, Raasel is another Shadwell cast-off who has already repaid Appleby and owners The Horse Watchers in a big way since being bought for just 10,000 guineas in August 2020.
An eight-time winner for the yard, Raasel enjoyed his biggest success in last year's Coral Charge and Appleby is confident that he won't give up his crown without a fight having had valid excuses for his underwhelming display at Royal Ascot.
Appleby explained: "Raasel needs plenty of cover and he ended up getting shuffled to the wing with too much daylight at Ascot. He just runs a bit with the choke out if he sees too much daylight early on and doesn’t get home.
"It never really fell right for him there and that was the danger from where he was drawn. I think he ran better than his finishing position would suggest.
"He’s not had much luck with the draws all season to be honest. At Haydock it worked out better for him and he ran really well. The time before he had a bad draw again and got too much daylight.
"I still think he’s as good as ever and he obviously won this race at Sandown last year. Hopefully, he should go close again – everything should suit him there."
Pollen to blame for early-season blip
Raasel certainly wouldn't be the first horse from his yard to bounce back after a below-par start to the campaign. Indeed, it's to fair say that the turf season has taken a while to get going for Appleby after a typically productive winter on the all-weather, saddling only five winners from 135 runners in the months of April and May combined.
It was the sort of frustrating run that most trainers have to endure at some point in their career, but it was still a relief when things came right in June (13/87, 15%) for Appleby, who can sympathise with hayfever sufferers following the problems his string experienced in the spring.
"It was really bad with the pollen around here," he explained. "We’re out in the countryside and the pollen was quite bad. It obviously affected the horses. We had quite a lot with runny noses and they were just under the weather.
"We had tests done on everything and couldn’t really find anything wrong, so we put it down to the pollen. I think it’s been worse this year than ever.
"There seems to be a lot more rapeseed around now than what there used to be and that contributes to the high pollen count. I think next year if it’s the same I’ll go on holiday for a month!"
With Annaf and Raasel both in action at Sandown on Saturday and exciting targets on the horizon for Big Evs in the coming weeks, Appleby can be forgiven if he's not planning a holiday anytime soon – not with a 'Sprint King' crown waiting to be claimed.
Appleby on two sprint handicappers to follow
Juan les Pins (Timeform rating 107)
Useful handicapper who proved at least as good as ever when finishing third in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot.
"Juan les Pins keeps surprising us really. He just keeps improving for a horse we got out of a claimer. He ran a great race when finishing third in the Ayr Gold Cup last year and we were delighted with him at Ascot.
"He didn’t really get the luck he needed there. He jumped out too well and didn’t get any cover. He’s a much better horse when he’s covered up and produced late. It didn’t really work out for him, but he still ran a blinder. He just did a bit too much early on having got too much daylight and he did well to keep going.
"There are plenty of options for him and he’ll mainly go for the big handicaps. I would think we’ll go for the Stewards’ Cup. That might be his next target."
Michaela's Boy (Timeform rating 107)
Three-year-old who produced a career-best effort when narrowly denied in the Rockingham at the Curragh on Sunday.
"He ran an absolute blinder in the Rockingham at the weekend. It was a good performance and he was giving a lot of weight to the winner. He’s improving and he’s so fast. He probably needs four and a half furlongs!
"He’s still only three and I think he’s still strengthening up a bit. He’s filled out a lot more this year than last and I think he’ll improve throughout the season and as he gets older. He could be quite decent and is likely to end up competing at Group level."
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