William Buick and Charlie Appleby © Photo Healy Racing
Naval Power spearheads a strong Charlie Appleby contingent in Canada this weekend, where he will be running in the Woodbine Mile.
Both his partner William Buick and Oisin Murphy, who is heading out to ride New Century at the meeting for Andrew Balding and his Qatar Racing bosses, are missing Doncaster and Leopardstown on Saturday.
The pair will be back to ride at the Curragh on Sunday, however.
Naval Power finished runner-up in two American Grade Ones in the spring and he leads the Godolphin team this weekend.
“The Woodbine Mile is a competitive race but Naval Power is a horse who has had a bit of a break now and had a good run in Churchill Downs, where he just got beat by Program Trading and that was a very good run. Everything will suit him at Woodbine,” said Buick.
Also in the same race is last year’s impressive Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner Big Rock for trainer Maurizio Guarnieri.
“Big Rock is improving. He had a hard season last year and at two but a lighter year this year has helped. Any rain would be a positive,” said the handler.
In the E.P. Taylor Stakes, Appleby and Buick run Cinderella’s Dream, a filly who has only lost once, in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, in seven starts.
With two victories already on the board stateside, Buick said: “She’s done very well in America and arrives there in good form.”
In the Grade One Summer Stakes for two-year-olds, Appleby runs Al Qudra, who will be taking on Balding’s recent Stonehenge Stakes winner New Century once more after the pair met at Ascot in July.
“New Century has arrived in Canada. It’s a long journey but he’s travelled extremely well,” said Balding.
“He’s one of those horses with exactly the right type of attitude and constitution to do some traveling, so hopefully he’ll bring his ‘A’ game to Woodbine on Saturday.
“I think the turning mile should suit him well. Al Qudra was very impressive at Ascot but we have got an extra furlong on Saturday. It was a smallish field and a slightly falsely run race, so we’re hoping that a truly run mile will be to our advantage.
“He has learned and improved with every run. My feeling is that the Stonehenge was a particularly good performance because he had to make the running in a small field, which wasn’t ideal. The form has been franked by Luther.”
