Haskoy tackles Al Rayyan challenge on Newbury return

Filly was second past the post in the St Leger before being demoted.

Ralph Beckett’s Haskoy will bid to begin her season with a bang in the Al Rayyan Stakes at Newbury.

The Golden Horn filly was twice a winner as a three-year-old, taking a novice on debut and then the Listed Galtres Stakes at York in August.

Her next outing was the final Classic of the season, the St Leger at Doncaster, where she ran a fine race to cross the line in second place but was later demoted to fourth as she was deemed to have caused interference.

Her run at Newbury will be her first of the season in a career that seems to be following an upward trajectory.

Barry Mahon, general manager for owners Juddmonte, said: “She’s a star.

“To jump up from winning a maiden on the all-weather, to then win a stakes race at York days later and then be thrown in at the deep end into a St Leger and finish second past the post.

“She’s a good filly, but she’s just taken a bit of time to come to hand.”

Godolphin run a well-fancied duo, with multiple Group winner Yibir at the head of the market for Charlie Appleby.

The five-year-old has not been seen since winning the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket in July, prior to which he was internationally campaigned and only narrowly beaten in the Sheema Classic, the Jockey Club Stakes and the Man o’War Stakes at Belmont.

Yibir winning the Princess Of Wales's Close Brothers Stakes
Yibir winning the Princess Of Wales’s Close Brothers Stakes (Mike Egerton/PA)

Appleby’s second runner is Kemari, another five-year-old gelding but a horse who was more recently seen when finishing fourth and second in the Nad Al Sheba Trophy and the Dubai City Of Gold respectively at Meydan.

The trainer told www.godolphin.com: “Yibir suffered a setback after winning in July but his preparation has gone well. He went for a racecourse gallop at Newmarket a couple of weeks ago and we were very pleased with how he went.

“If he can bring the level of form he showed as a three-year-old and what we saw last year, he is going to be the one they all have to beat.

“Kemari showed great consistency over the winter in Dubai and the ground should be lovely for him. He is a very straightforward horse in terms of his running style and will hopefully be very competitive if he can replicate his Meydan performances.”

Gaassee (right) winning the Sky Bet Race To The Ebor Jorvik Handicap
Gaassee (right) winning the Sky Bet Race To The Ebor Jorvik Handicap (Tim Goode/PA)

William Haggas is represented by Gaassee, a four-time winner who returns to the track for the first time since August and since being gelded.

The trainer said: “That is a very strong race for what it is. It’s a Group Three race with lots of good horses in it.

“He has got talent – we’ve had a few issues with him, but he’s ready to go and he’ll enjoy some decent ground.

“We gelded him at the end of last season. I think he’s OK.”

John and Thady Gosden’s Israr, Andrew Balding’s Old Harrovian, Aidan O’Brien’s Bolshoi Ballet also feature.

Noble Style drops back to a sprint trip at Newbury
Noble Style drops back to a sprint trip at Newbury (Mike Egerton/PA)

Elsewhere there are two Listed races, the first of which is the opening BetVictor Carnarvon Stakes over six furlongs.

Godolphin and Appleby have a strong hand once again through Noble Style, winner of the Gimcrack last term and sixth in the 2000 Guineas when last seen.

Appleby said: “Noble Style goes into this in good order on the back of a pleasing run in the 2000 Guineas, when he was trying a mile for the first time on soft ground.

“We came out of that race with the mindset that sprinting was going to be the way forward.

“Working back from the Commonwealth Cup, we felt getting him back into a sprinting frame of mind here was the right thing to do. This looks a nice springboard onto Royal Ascot and we are very much looking forward to seeing him back over this trip.”

Bluestocking winning the Byerley Stud British EBF Novice Stakes
Bluestocking winning the Byerley Stud British EBF Novice Stakes (Andrew Matthews/PA)

The other Listed contest is the Haras De Bouquetot Fillies’ Trial Stakes, a 10-furlong event for likely Oaks types.

Juddmonte and Beckett run Bluestocking, a daughter of Camelot who won on debut in September when taking a Salisbury novice by a length and a quarter.

“She won her maiden well. Unfortunately we missed Lingfield (last weekend), which was where we wanted to go, and she has taken time to come to herself like a lot of fillies this spring,” Mahon said of the bay.

“Lingfield was our initial plan and the filly was probably not ready to run there anyway, so the switch to the all-weather didn’t really matter to us.

“We’re just waiting for her to come and bloom and she’s coming.

“Everyone is happy with her, she’s not 100 per cent there yet, but she’s coming and just about ready to start.

“She’s a nice filly, full of potential but there is still the unknown until we see her on track and that is where we will find out what her level is.”

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