Barry Mahon (centre) pictured with Colin Keane and Ralph Beckett© Photo Healy Racing
Smart Newmarket winner Tabiti may have had to wait a week but is ready to step up in class and drop in trip when heading to Salisbury for the rearranged Ire-Incentive, It Pays To Buy Irish Dick Poole Fillies’ Stakes on Friday.
Heavy rain a week ago forced the Wiltshire track to abandon their feature card that hosted this Group Three event but fortunately it has been hastily rescheduled, with many of the main protagonists standing their ground.
That includes Ralph Beckett’s Tabiti, who was slated to head off favourite last week and is heading the bookmakers’ lists again having produced a dominant performance from the front on the July course on debut.
Having previously sidestepped the Prestige Stakes on account of testing ground at Goodwood, connections are hoping conditions remain dry ahead of this immediate step into deeper waters.
The daughter of Kingman will also be dropping back in distance, but her team feel she has all the tools to showcase her ability once again in a race connections won with Juliet Sierra two years ago.
“Hopefully the ground will have dried out, as she’s in great form and we look forward to seeing her run,” said Barry Mahon, European racing manager for owners Juddmonte.
“She was impressive at Newmarket on debut and we would like to think she is a smart filly.
“She won quite easy in the end and she has a lot of natural ability. Dropping back in trip is a slight concern but she did show plenty of speed the first day, so we would be hopeful enough she can overcome it and hopefully she is up to this level on Friday.”
Eve Johnson Houghton registered a shock victory in the race 12 months ago with Juniper Berries and will look to go back-to-back with Betty Clover who claimed the Marygate Stakes in the early part of the season before running with credit at Group level since.
William Haggas’ Jewelry dazzled on debut at Newbury and joins Karl Burke’s Greydreambeliever in jumping up in grade having scored at the first time of asking.
The latter was somewhat unfancied at 14-1 on her racecourse bow, with Burke feeling she would be better with experience banked, but could now tee-up a shot at some big races in the autumn if making a successful raid southward.
“She’s going well at home and Karl is pleased with her – and this is obviously a step up in class which will tell us what we’ve got on our hands,” said Cosmo Charlton, racing manager for owners Hambleton Racing.
“Karl thought she would come on plenty for her York debut and she did well that day. Karl definitely went into York thinking there would be plenty to come both physically and mentally, so we weren’t expecting to win, but she got the job done.
“The front two were well clear and there were some horses that have got some fair form in there. Karl has been happy with her and she’s got some fancy entries further down the line as well.
“There are some very interesting horses in this race, the Beckett horse was impressive first time and so was the Haggas horse, while there are some high-level nursery-type horses in there as well, but Karl thinks she’s a smart filly, so we will be going there full of hope really.
“It’s really good to have a nice two-year-old and a couple of the owners have had a bit of bad luck of late, so it will be nice if they could have some good luck. We’ve got our fingers crossed for a good run on Friday.”
Meanwhile, Clive Cox’s Magic Mild has found the winning thread of late and will bid for a hat-trick after two victories at Newmarket which read very well.
Roger Varian ’s Miss Fascinator counts famous footballing names Ossie Ardiles, Glenn Hoddle and Alan Brazil amongst her owners, while the King and Queen’s Handcuffed (Andrew Balding) and Santa Savana (Rod Millman) complete the eight-strong field.
