Calyx the Star Turn on Ascot Trials Card

[Wandering Eyes]

‘TDN Rising Star’ Calyx (GB) (Kingman {GB}) heads back to the Ascot track over which he wowed the Royal assembly last June as he puts the wheels back on the rails in Wednesday’s G3 Merriebelle Stable Commonwealth Cup Trial S. Few would have expected that this would be the next time they saw him after his dynamic lone virtuoso performance in the course-and-distance G2 Coventry S., but many would have banked on this being the trip at which he was campaigned such was the speed he displayed then. Connections had momentarily soul-searched after the defection of stablemate Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) from the G1 2000 Guineas, but stuck to the original plan to bypass Newmarket and come to this contest usually known as the Pavilion S.

“It was a hard decision making the call not to run in the 2000 Guineas, as the race is important and it is something you want on the CV of every horse,” Khalid Abdullah’s  racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe said. “We think long-term this will be better for the horse and we thought it was a better way to go with him. This will get him going for the year then hopefully we can pursue the top mile races later on in the summer.”

Up against Calyx is the fellow Royal Ascot scorer Signora Cabello (Ire) (Camacho {GB}), who captured the furlong-shorter G2 Queen Mary S. in June prior to adding the G2 Prix Robert Papin to her tally and finishing runner-up over this trip in the G1 Prix Morny at Deauville in August. Oisin Murphy is back on board Phoenix Thoroughbred Limited’s bay, who was disappointing when subsequently 10th in Newmarket’s G1 Cheveley Park S., and said, “Calyx will be very tough to beat and I was very impressed with him in the Coventry S. Signora Cabello is a very tough filly and this is a nice starting point for her and it will give us an indication of where we are going with her. I’ve not had the chance to sit her since Royal Ascot, as I was suspended when she ran in France and Frankie [Dettori] kept the ride but it is great to get the leg back up on her again. She is quite a laid-back filly in her races and it will give her every chance of staying six this season.”

On the inaugural unveiling of a fascinating fixture which is certain to grow as the years go by, the opening Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Royal Ascot Two-Year-Old Trial Conditions S. sees Wesley Ward give ‘TDN Rising Star’ Lady Pauline (Munnings) an early sighter at the track at which she is due to return next month. Five furlongs is the trip for Stonestreet Stables’ homebred half-sister to the predominant Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy) and the manner of her 9 3/4-length debut win over a half-furlong shorter at Keeneland Apr. 5 suggests it will be the usual jump-and-run tactic that has served the barn so well in Berkshire. The next race is the Naas Racecourse Royal Ascot Trials Day British EBF Fillies’ Conditions S. over virtually a mile and Sir Michael Stoute unleashes King Power Racing’s exciting Queen Power (Ire) (Shamardal), the ex-Ralph Beckett-trained full-sister to Australian star Puissance de Lune (Ire) who scored on her sole start in a Newmarket maiden at this distance in October.

Khalid Abdullah’s Weekender (GB) (Frankel {GB}) stakes his G1 Gold Cup claims in the G3 Longines Sagaro S. and the G1 Irish St Leger third encounters the G1 Epsom Derby runner-up Dee Ex Bee (GB) (Farhh {GB}) in a renewal of the two-mile contest without a proven stayer bar the hurdling mare Verdana Blue (Ire) (Getaway {Ger}). The Listed Ascot Shop Paradise S. serves as a prep for the G1 Queen Anne S. and sees the return of the 2017 G1 St James’s Palace S. hero Barney Roy (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}) due to fertility issues at stud. Godolphin’s now-gelded 5-year-old will be an intriguing project for Charlie Appleby this year, but the presence of the likes of Shadwell’s Listed Fortune S. scorer Wadilsafa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) will test his readiness to the full.

   May Day in France sees the customary G2 Prix du Muguet fixture and in that contest Freddy Head opts to return to a mile with the Wertheimers’ G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest heroine Polydream (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}) who was so controversially ruled out of the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile by racecourse officials in November. Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum’s progressive G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein winner Ostilio (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) and a trio from the Andre Fabre stable including Godolphin’s unexposed Listed Prix Jacques Laffitte runner-up Mer Et Nuages (Fr) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) will make it hard for her. “Mer Et Nuages is in great form and we are hoping that he can try and fulfil the promise he showed at the start of last year,” Godolphin’s Lisa-Jane Graffard commented. “He suffered an interrupted campaign last season and we were delighted with his comeback run, which he would have needed.”

Also on the card are the 10 1/2-furlong G1 Prix du Jockey Club and G1 Prix de Diane trials, the G2 Prix Greffulhe and G3 Prix Penelope, respectively. The former sees another big Wertheimer hope for 2019, Starmaniac (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), tackle black-type company for the first time after winning an informative course-and-distance conditions race Mar. 30. He has a representative of the Andre Fabre stable to contend with in Godolphin’s Roman Candle (GB) (Le Havre {Ire}) and despite having something to prove after a third placing behind Starmaniac’s stablemate Shaman (Ire) (Shamardal) in the nine-furlong G3 Prix la Force at ParisLongchamp Apr. 7, his trainer has won this 12 times and knows what it takes. “Roman Candle is a very straightforward horse who has done well since his first start of the year,” Graffard said. “We are hopeful that he can give another good account of himself.”

Fabre’s two in the Penelope include Michael Tabor et al’s Secret Walk (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), a daughter of the Oaks-placed High Heeled (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) who beat a smart-looking subsequent winner in Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in a 10-furlong debutantes contest here Mar. 30.

There is also quality action in Germany, with Munich staging the G3 Bavarian Classic over 10 furlongs which will provide the first major clues regarding the domestic Derby. Despite the recent eclipse of the G3 Preis des Winterfavoriten winner Noble Moon (Ger) (Sea the Moon {Ger}), the runner-up in that Cologne feature in October Django Freeman (Ger) (Campanologist) has his chance to uphold that form. Stall Salzburg’s Quest the Moon (Ger) (Sea the Moon {Ger}) captured Baden-Baden’s G3 Zukunftsrennen before running second to Mission Boy (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) in the G2 Gran Criterium at the San Siro and sets another lofty standard, but there are some lurking improvers in here including Stall Hornoldendorf’s unbeaten Quian (Ger) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) from the Peter Schiergen stable.

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