Santa Anita – Friday
8.12pm
Band Practice
Wesley [Ward] obviously has a very strong hand in here and A’Ali probably just shades my horse in European form terms, so we know what we are up against. In fact, we have a handle on the Ward horses this year thru Queen Mary runner-up Kimari and I would say A'Ali could be the one to beat providing a long season hasn't taken its toll on him. But my filly has the draw in two and she looks to have the early pace to suggest she has a fair chance of utilising it. I haven’t ridden her yet but she seemed to step forward a lot when making all in a Listed race in the soft at Chantilly last time, beating a fair Godolphin horse with the third well beaten off, and she handled quicker ground at Musselburgh previously. She is peaking at the right time and she could just have a better chance than her odds of around 14-1 back home suggest, for all this is obviously a couple of rungs up for her in class terms.
10.12pm
Shadn
She is another filly that I will be sitting on for the first time but, again, you can’t argue with her draw in three. The draw is all-important around here, and if you can get your early position without using up too much energy, you are in very good stead. She would have a bit to find with the other European fillies, but I definitely think she has the ability to improve on what she has done so far. She did well to win her Group 2 in France over 6f last time from a progressive horse, and her pedigree would give you a fair bit of hope that the step up to 1m for the first time will be within her compass, especially around here, and her pace over shorter is a plus. Again, I’d like to think that quotes of around 20-1 underestimate her, and she has form on quick ground, too.
SATURDAY
8.10pm
Ambassadorial
He undoubtedly faces a tough task and he comes in here as one of the outsiders. He is another who I haven’t sat on before but his best form has come on the all-weather at Chelmsford and Dundalk, which gives you hope that he will take to the surface. But he is rated just 104 at home, and that tells what a job he has on against the likes of Omaha Beach in their own back yard. Being honest, he will have done very well to finish in the first six here.
10.20pm
Lord Glitters
I definitely think he has the talent be a factor, but he will obviously need all the luck going from stall 12 and he comes here off the back of a rare modest run in the QEII last time. But he wasn’t ideally drawn there and he couldn't get cover, so I think you can excuse that run to a fair degree. On the form he has shown in winning the Queen Anne and behind Almond Eye over in Dubai, you can make a definite form case for him, and he does have form on quick ground – though he loves it soft – but that draw makes it tough for him, for all he does like coming late off a quick pace. If it all falls right for him, he could just surprise, though, and I suppose the wide draw is not that important for him because of his run-style. If he got stall one, you couldn't really use it, but he is more than capable of going close here on a talent level.
