Weekend Review – Take Cover From Gosden’s Next Superstar Who’s Just Too Darn Hot

[Wandering Eyes]

Every trainer with smart two-year-old colt dreams of winning the 2000 Guineas or possibly the Derby but they will now be shaking in their boots after Too Darn Hot’s scintillating performance in the Group 3 Solario Stakes. Frankie Dettori settled the impeccably bred son of Dubawi early and quickened well inside the final furlong to relegate the Royal Ascot winning Arthur Kitt to a distant second.

So impressive was his performance that Too Darn Hot now heads the market for both the 2000 Guineas (6/1) and The Derby (5/1). “He’s pretty special,” said Dettori

“I kept him going right up to the line because I suspect a Group 1 will be the next step. I gave him as much experience as I could. He’s put a very good field to bed in impressive fashion”.

Andrew Balding’s Duretto regained the winning thread when getting on top late inside the final furlong in the Listed Chester Stakes. This was his first victory of the season but it may have been a weak event, with Duretto’s main danger Here And Now ultimately running below par.

David Probert always had his charge in a prominent position and even though he edged left inside the final furlong, he won quite snugly from Mark Johnston’s Hochfield.

Another horse to appreciate a drop in class was Sir Michael Stoute’s Veracious, the three-year-old filly contested the Coronation Stakes and Nassau Stakes on her two previous starts this season. Thankfully for her connections, there was nothing like the calibre of Alpha Centauri or Wild Illusion in the Atalanta Stakes.

Ryan Moore tracked the leaders throughout and quickened well to beat Awesometank by just under two lengths. Afterwards, Moore told ITV racing:

“She’s a really nice filly, she’s run well in two Group Ones and a stronger pace would have suited her better.

“I was in front earlier than I would have wanted, but she can only win and there was a bit left in the tank at the end.

“She’s a very honest filly, she just doesn’t do a whole lot when she gets to the front”.

Archie Watson Celebrates Soldiers Call Royal Ascot Win

It was a red-letter day for fledgeling trainer Archie Watson who trained his first Group winner when his Royal Ascot winning Soldiers Call cosily landed the Group 3 Prix d’Arenberg at Chantilly.

The Lambourn based trainer who was previously assistant trainer to William Haggas started out with just three horses in his harness and is having a fantastic season thus far. Soldiers Call is the flag bearer for the yard, following this Group success and a Royal Ascot win.

Archie said:

“We’ll consider the Flying Childers now and both Soldier’s Call and Listed winner Shumookhi are in the Abbaye, where they’d get a lot of weight from the older horses, but Churchill Downs is the main end-of-season plan for him”.

There was more success on the International front on Sunday with Saeed Bin Suroor’s Best Solution landing his second Group 1 of the season under Pat Cosgrave in the Longines Grosser Preis von Baden.

After winning Germany’s most prestigious race Suroor said:

“I really have only three good horses in my stable: Thunder Snow, Benbatl and Best Solution – the rest are just horses,” he said. “These three are my leaders and they’ve run well for me in Dubai, in Europe and will hopefully do so in America and Australia as well.”

Roger Varian’s Defoe finished a creditable second on his return from a layoff and he said of his stable star:

“He ran a nice race and I think the lack of pace leading to a sprint in the short straight didn’t help him.

“We’ll take him home and make a decision about where to go next, there are no firm plans. He’s very talented but he’s always better on softer ground.”

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