‘All Systems Go Towards The Guineas’: Godolphin Stars Shadow Of Light and Desert Flower Step Out

[Wandering Eyes]

NEWMARKET, UK — Beyond the action on the racecourse at Newmarket this week, there are plenty of pointers to the first two Classics of the season to be found in the mornings and Charlie Appleby took to the Rowley Mile early on Wednesday with a team which included his two best juveniles of last year.

Desert Flower (Ire), the unbeaten G1 Fillies' Mile winner, was by far the most visually impressive of the Godolphin workers as she powered through the dip and up the hill under William Buick. Her efforts were certainly enough to leave her trainer in a bullish mood with a little over a fortnight to the Betfred 1,000 Guineas.

“You've all seen that,” said Appleby of the daughter of Night Of Thunder (Ire). “You couldn't help but be impressed by that, really. So far she has just been straightforward and those good horses, they can go on any ground. That is what she is showing, that she's really versatile.

“I knew before she ran in the Fillies' Mile that she might get a little bit lost going into the dip but then she hit the rising ground and she was away. She's done that again here. When you have got those unbeaten fillies, they are always exciting – and she is definitely that.”

The homebred Desert Flower currently heads the market for the 1,000 Guineas and she could then head on to the Betfred Oaks.

“I see no reason why she shouldn't stay or why she won't step up in trip,” Appleby said. “With Epsom, it would be just how she handled the track because of her size. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.”

The European champion two-year-old of 2024, Shadow Of Light (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who was beaten just once into second from five starts last year, had been Buick's first mount of the morning, and Appleby was similarly upbeat about the Dewhurst winner.

He said, “The best races in the autumn are the Dewhurst and the Fillies' Mile and people may want to go against Shadow Of Light at their peril but he's a Dewhurst winner and they are often the horses that are often going to be very competitive in the Guineas.

“His preparation has gone faultlessly. He's done well physically. It was never in my mind to come for a trial. We're stepping him up to a mile, and that's a question mark of course, but I'm not worried about that because of what I saw in the Dewhurst.”

 

Shadow Of Light and William Buick | Emma Berry

 

Appleby added, “We have a lot of confidence in the horse on what we saw on Dewhurst day and what we're seeing physically – we think he'll see the mile out. And if he does, great, it opens his options up for the rest of the summer, and if he doesn't, then we'll drop him back to the Commonwealth. But from what we've seen we're very happy with him and it's all systems go towards the Guineas.”

Appleby also brought the Jumeirah 2,000 Guineas winner Ruling Court (Justify) to the Rowley Mile for a spin under James Doyle. The Betfred Derby is his main Classic target, and his trainer is currently mulling options for the build-up to Epsom.

“We planned originally to go to Sandown with him and with the work this morning, once the dust has settled, we'll decide what to do. He's in the Guineas mix for sure and the Guineas is one of the best Derby trials anyway,” he said.

“It might just be a race we look towards for his Derby trial. I was pleased with what I saw out there this morning. Of course he's coming into today's gallop off a run in Meydan which was visually very impressive. He's come out of it very well. We'll look at him as a Derby horse but we feel he could be competitive in the Guineas as well.”

Last year Notable Speech used a Rowley Mile gallop in lieu of a formal Classic trial and the 2,000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes winner returned with his younger stable-mates for a piece of work under Colm O'Donoghue. His first target of the year is the Lockinge Stakes on May 17.

Declaring himself to be “delighted with him”, Appleby added, “The race obviously we're going to be working back from is the Queen Anne and hopefully we'll get quick ground.”

 

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