The feature race at
Doncaster this afternoon is the Group 2 May Hill Stakes over the straight mile
for juvenile fillies. Zabeel Queen created a favourable impression when scoring
over 7f at Ascot on debut although I thought the runner up Snow Lantern was the
one to take from the race.
Indigo Girl (2.10)
wore a hood for her racecourse debut when she came home 3L clear at Yarmouth on
soft ground. Her sister Group 1 winner Journey also wore a hood for the vast
majority of her career, and it did not stop her from becoming a top-class mare
although it took her five starts to break her maiden tag. Indigo Girl is
obviously more precocious than her sister and it should be noted that while
Journey was effective on soft ground, all her wins were gained on good or
faster ground.
Last year’s unbeaten
St Leger winner makes his reappearance in the 10f Conditions race which opens
the card, but he has scared away the opposition and faces just one rival. It
will be interesting to see if connections persevere with 10f for his next start
or whether they step up to 2m for the Long Distance Cup on Champions Day next
month for which he is 5/1 at William Hill behind stablemate Stradivarius who is
6/4.
Nazuna (1.40) won
despite being too free in a slightly longer trip here in a fast time on her
second start and must have every chance if more amenable to restraint in the
fillies’ nursery. The ew recommendation should get a good tow into the race
with Spright and Sky Angel two of a number of potential pace angles in the race.
The latter named has been a beaten favourite on all three starts but there is
more to come from the Godolphin filly.
Cold Front (3.45) was
backed from 8s into 7/2 at York last time but never featured. That run was too
bad to be true and William Haggas fits his charge with a first-time tongue-tie
this afternoon. The return to 7f will suit and he is likely to race more
prominently over this straight track than was the case on the Knavesmire when
he never got competitive from his bad draw.
The filly Tacitly
(2.30) has been raised 3lbs since scoring over C&D last time when I felt
she idled having hit the front at the furlong pole. The selection had the worst
of the draw last time and I thought she was value for more than the
three-quarters-of-a-length she had at the line. At the time of writing Roger
Charlton has saddled six winners from his last 13 runners and stable jockey
Jason Watson returns to the saddle on this daughter of Dubawi.
Wightman (4.05) can
race from the same mark as when easily landing an apprentice handicap at
Salisbury last time and it should be noted that he has also been declared to
run at Chester on Friday in an amateur riders’ event. He is 8lbs “well-in“ today
and he clearly enjoys a bit of cut in the ground. Silvestre De Sousa takes over
in the saddle.
Frozen Waters (4.40)
steps up to a mile for the first time having finished runner up at Newmarket on
soft ground last time. After just three career starts the colt is open to
further improvement and there is enough stamina on the distaff side of the
family to suggest he should appreciate today’s extra furlong.
