Trainer quotes for ITV action at Beverley and Sandown August 31

Solario Gold in Juddmonte’s sights at Sandown

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Field Of Gold will be following in some illustrious hoofprints if he can add to John Gosden’s record tally in the Sky Bet Solario Stakes at Sandown on Saturday.

The Clarehaven handler, who now trains in partnership with son Thady, has saddled six previous winners of the Group Three contest, with his Breeders’ Cup Classic hero Raven’s Pass (2007) and a pair of top-class milers in Kingman (2013) and Too Darn Hot (2018) featuring on the roll of honour.

Field Of Gold, a Juddmonte-owned son of Kingman, finished third behind subsequent Listed scorer New Century on his Doncaster debut in late June before opening his account with a facile success at Newmarket’s July meeting.

Connections expect to have a clearer idea of his long-term aspirations after he lines up in this weekend’s seven-furlong feature.

“We’re excited to see him. Obviously he won his maiden in good fashion and this is the next step up the ladder we sort of waited for,” said Juddmonte’s European racing manager Barry Mahon.

“He seems in good form and John and Thady are happy with him. The Acomb Stakes at York last week was mentioned, but I think we were always going to sit tight and wait for this.

“He’s a big horse, so we were keen to give him a little bit of time. He probably got to the races plenty early because he was naturally so talented, but he’s had a nice gap from his last race and I think physically he’s done very well.

“John has used this race plenty of times in the past, it can be a very good race and we’re looking forward to seeing if we’re up to this level.”

Chief among Field Of Gold’s rivals are two unbeaten juveniles in Royal Playwright and Matauri Bay.

Andrew Balding’s Royal Playwright looked the part when making a successful start to his career at Salisbury last month under Hayley Turner, and three-time champion jockey Oisin Murphy is looking forward to taking over in the saddle.

He said: “Royal Playwright won well on debut at Salisbury. He’s very well bred and he’s training like a nice horse.”

A brother to Breeders’ Cup winner Aunt Pearl, the Ralph Beckett-trained Matauri Bay has his sights raised after scoring on his introduction at Leicester three weeks ago, with the runner-up Shah doing the form no harm when occupying the same spot in the valuable Convivial Maiden at York.

“He was very professional on debut and it was nice to see the second come out and run so well in the Convivial, which must be a nice indicator I suppose to the strength of that race,” said Alex Elliott, racing adviser to Matauri Bay’s part-owners Valmont.

“We’ve got a nice draw (stall two), Sandown is a very fair track, we’re excited to run him and this should tell us where we’re at really.

“John Gosden’s horse looked very good when he won at Newmarket, but he’d had a run, and the horse of Andrew’s beat one of ours (Original Outlaw) at Salisbury and is a very well-bred horse.

“Quite often the Solario is a stallion-making race, when you look through the history of it. If it goes to plan, we can map out the rest of the year. We’re looking forward to it.”

Tutty backing Blue Storm to make Bullet impact

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Gemma Tutty is confident her gamble on sprint star Blue Storm will pay off when she attempts to land the William Hill Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes on Saturday.

The Blue Point colt has been on an upward trajectory this year, finishing fourth at Chester on his seasonal reappearance in May before taking the 3YO “Dash” Handicap honours at Epsom a month later.

He produced a career-best run at Royal Ascot in the Palace of Holyrood House Stakes, where Blue Storm missed the start and was short of room when battling with eventual winner Pilgrim to finish a half-length second.

The three-year-old has not been seen since those exploits, with Tutty admitting he is “a gallop short” in his preparations for the Listed contest on the Westwood, but she does anticipate another strong performance.

“He didn’t come out of Ascot very well, it took a lot more out of him than we realised it was going to,” Tutty said.

“It has been a bit of a battle to get him back to where we needed him, he’s probably going into this a gallop short but I’m hoping he gets away with it.

“He’s a seriously fast horse and he’s done a lot of base fitness, I just would have liked, ideally, to have got another fast piece into him.

“I’m happy enough to take his chance but given we have never run him on a stiff track like Beverley and he wasn’t seen to best effect at tracks like Hamilton before we got him, there’s a little bit of a question mark.

“But he’s drawn very well and at Ascot he handled the stiffer finish very well, so it’s worth a try anyway.”

Robert Cowell’s Clarendon House is the only contender to have run at Beverley during his career, winning a three-horse contest in June 2022 before finishing a length and three-quarters behind Judicial three months later.

The six-year-old claimed a Listed triumph at Cork in June before coming home towards the rear of the field on his last two starts at York, latterly in the Group One Nunthorpe Stakes, which has resulted in a change of routine for the son of Mehmas.

“We’re going to go back to basics. He’s been going in with the hood and we’ve been whipping it off late. It worked in Ireland, but it didn’t work in the City Walls or the Nunthorpe,” said Tim Palin, racing manager for owners Middleham Park Racing.

“On Saturday, he’s going to go in naked, so to speak. We’ll strip back the headgear and go in as late as we can and see what happens.

“If he gets out of the right side of bed and jumps off on terms, he’s got a favourite’s chance I think.”

Democracy Dilemma provides another strong challenge for Cowell, with the four-year-old narrowly missing out at the Ebor Festival last week.

He made the running in the five-and-a-half-furlong Symphony Group Handicap before being usurped by Jm Jungle, Jordan Electrics and Looking For Lynda in the closing stages for a one-length fourth.

Michael Dods, who won this race with Dakota Gold in 2020, hopes a drop in trip for only the second time in his career can get Commanche Falls back in the winner’s enclosure.

Jamie Osborne’s Emaraaty Ana is the oldest horse of the seven runners in the contest, while Albasheer aims to return to form for Archie Watson.

Staincliff moves up to Listed level in a bid to complete a hat-trick for Jack Channon.

Tamfana drops in distance for Atalanta assignment

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After being placed in Classics on both sides of the Channel this season, Tamfana drops in class and distance for the Sky Bet Atalanta Stakes at Sandown.

A Group Three-winning two-year-old last season, David Menuisier’s filly was beaten just a length into fourth place in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in the spring and went even closer when finishing a close-up third in the French Oaks at Chantilly next time.

The daughter of Soldier Hollow appeared to have her stamina limitations exposed when stepped up to a mile and a half for last month’s Grand Prix de Paris, passing the post in fourth, and Menuisier is hoping she can make the most of having her sights lowered in Saturday’s one-mile Group Three.

“She’s in really good form, she’s had a break and all the lights are green really,” said the trainer.

“I think she clearly didn’t really stay the mile and a half against top opposition. I’m pretty sure she could win over a mile and a half, but not at the very top level, so there is no point continuing at that distance and we’ll come down in trip and try to go back to the top level.

“A mile or a mile and a quarter, I’m still open-minded. I don’t know what we’ll be doing next and we will see what happens on Saturday, but it would be nice to get her head in front for sure.”

Oisin Murphy has been on board Tamfana for three of her four starts this season and he too views the drop in distance as a positive move.

He said: “Tamfana has been running with great credit in Group Ones this season and the mile at Sandown should suit her.”

The Ralph Beckett-trained Doha carried Sheikh Joaan Al Thani’s Al Shaqab Racing colours to Royal Ascot glory in the Kensington Palace Stakes in June and has since filled the runner-up spot in the Pipalong Stakes at Pontefract before finishing a creditable fifth in Goodwood’s Nassau Stakes.

Connections are expecting another positive performance this weekend, with Al Shaqab racing manager Alison Begley saying: “Ralph’s really pleased with her and she’s done nothing but improve this year.

“Obviously the filly we’ve got to beat is the David Menuisier filly and giving away the three-year-old allowance is going to be tough, but I think she goes there with a good chance and you’ve got to be in it to win it.

“She ran a huge race in the Nassau last time and if she can reproduce that form, I think she should go very close on Saturday.”

Jane Chapple-Hyam is looking forward to saddling Rolica, who finished sixth in the 1000 Guineas before running with credit behind subsequent French Oaks heroine Sparkling Plenty in the Prix de Sandringham in early June.

“She’s had a few weeks out of grass since she came back from Chantilly and she’s in really good order,” said the Newmarket handler.

“She’s pleased us recently and we’re very happy to be heading to Sandown, the stiff mile will suit her and the ground should be better than what it was at Chantilly.”

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