RACING:KIEREN FALLON was resigned to losing a ride on a genuine contender for the Qipqo 2,000 Guineas after partnering Native Khan to success in the Breeze Up Vendors Craven Stakes at Newmarket yesterday.
Fallon will appeal against a 10-day ban he received at Kempton on Wednesday night but is not holding his breath about a reduction in its severity.
Native Khan’s trainer Ed Dunlop has not yet confirmed the grey for the first Classic of the season but is clearly tempted after a solid, if unspectacular, effort in this long-established trial.
A winner of his first two starts before finishing fourth in the Racing Post Trophy, the 8 to 11 favourite was slightly on-edge in the preliminaries but was professional enough during the race as he came two lengths clear of Libranno.
The Greenham Stakes-bound Frankel remains an odds-on favourite for the Guineas, while Native Khan was unchanged at 16 to 1 by Ladbrokes and Coral.
“I won the Guineas on King’s Best in 2000, and he ran a similar sort of race in the Craven,” said Fallon. “It wasn’t the strongest race, he’s still babyish, but he’s right there.”
Dunlop added: “Coming here was an afterthought – we were going to go straight to a Guineas – but he came to hand quicker than I thought and I’m glad we ran.
“He has always been a bit bouncy and was about 85 per cent today. He will go for a Guineas but we have to decide which. He is French-bred, so that’s an option, but I am certainly not ruling out coming back here.
“The only thing is that he will not run anywhere where there is any soft in the ground. He could well be a French Derby horse but I want to run in a Guineas first.”
An Investec Derby trial is the likely plan for Midsummer Fair (6 to 1) after his striking debut in the Greville Starkey Wood Ditton Maiden Stakes.
Trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni appears to view the son of Medaglia d’Oro as a finer prospect than Wednesday’s winner Ocean War and it looked a reasonable assessment after his radiant change of gear in the closing stages saw him finish three lengths in front of Henry Cecil’s well-regarded Air Traffic, who came from a long way back.
“The jockey (Mickael Barzalona) thinks he’s best over a mile but I think we might look for a race at a mile and a quarter, as you have to try to find out,” said Al Zarooni.
“I’m not sure, but I think this is a better horse than Ocean War, who is a mile-and-a-half horse.” Midsummer Fair is 25 to 1 for the Derby with totesport and Sky Bet among others.
There was interest in the presence of the mercurial Frenchman Andre Fabre to saddle Polytechnicien in the Weatherbys Earl Of Sefton Stakes, a race he won in 2007 with Manduro, but the 7 to 2 chance could never get on terms with Ransom Note (6 to 1).
Barry Hills’ colt led from start to finish, completing the transition from smart handicapper to Group level. The trainer reported: “He was over the top by last year’s Cambridgeshire and he is a much better horse this year. The plan had been the Huxley Stakes at Chester but I think that will be shelved. I’d like him to go globetrotting.”
Roger Charlton’s admirable sprinter Genki (12 to 1) claimed another decent prize in the Listed Abernant Stakes.
