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Posts Tagged ‘kieren fallon’

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pMark Johnston reports Sea Lord to be in tip-top condition ahead of his step up to Group One company in the Tattersalls Millions Irish Champion Stakes./p
pThe Cape Cross colt is enjoying a fantastic campaign with lucrative handicap wins at the Curragh, Newmarket and Goodwood, followed by a narrow success over weekend winner Poet’s Voice in Group Three company at Salisbury./p
pHe was supplemented for Saturday’s feature at a cost of 75,000 euros but his trainer is under no illusions about the task ahead as the three-year-old faces the prospect of tackling the likes of Rip Van Winkle and Twice Over./p
p”He’s in good form. We’ve done this a couple of times this year – supplemented horses for big races – and touch wood, he seems very well,” said Johnston./p
p”It’s a big leap for him and we can’t take it for granted that he is up to Group One level, but it seems the right progression for him at this stage. He had a number of targets but we decided on this one.”/p
pIt will also be Sea Lord’s first run beyond a mile this weekend but Johnston believes there is enough evidence to suggest the 10 furlongs will not be a problem./p
p”The breeding on his dam’s side suggests he could be better over a mile and a quarter and his style of running is very laid back,” the Middleham handler continued./p
p”Kieren Fallon rode him last time and he said he could be better over a mile and a quarter./p
p”He’s by Cape Cross and although he was a miler himself, we’ve seen he is capable of producing horses with stamina. He hasn’t raced on anything other than fast ground this year, but we know he’ll handle that fine.”/p
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Tom Queally will ride dual 1000 Guineas winner Special Duty for Criquette Head-Maarek in the Etihad Airways Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket on Wednesday.

Queally – fresh from Group One success on the Henry Cecil-trained Twice Over in the Eclipse at the weekend – comes in for the ride after Christophe Lemaire suffered a leg fracture in a fall at Compiegne on Monday afternoon.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Khalid Abdullah, told Press Association Sport: “Tom Queally will ride Special Duty in the Falmouth on Wednesday. It looks a hot race, but she’s in grand form and we’re looking forward to it.”

A high-class field of eight will go to post for the opening day highlight of the July meeting.

Group One winners dominate the field, with Special Duty aiming for a hat-trick after being awarded her two Classic victories in the stewards’ room.

Aidan O’Brien’s Lillie Langtry is looking to follow up her impressive win in the Coronation Stakes, while Lahaleeb will be having her first start for Gerard Butler since being bought by current connections for £1million guineas.

Adding further strength in depth is Sir Michael Stoute’s Strawberrydaiquiri, a gutsy winner of the Windsor Forest at Royal Ascot.

Just touched off in the same race was James Fanshawe’s Spacious and the pair will clash again, with Kieren Fallon taking over in the saddle as Johnny Murtagh is on board Lillie Langtry.

Mick Channon’s luckless Music Show has run well in all the top races so far this season but only has a victory in the Nell Gwyn to show for her efforts, while Mark Johnston’s Rainfall is the most unexposed horse in the field, winning the Jersey Stakes against the colts on only her third start.

The field is completed by Jim Bolger’s Gile Ne Greine, third in the Guineas at Newmarket and second in the Coronation Stakes last time out.

William Buick has needed to wait a while, but in this Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse he will finally get his second chance to ride Dar Re Mi.

John Gosden’s mare, owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber, has already mixed it with the very best in middle-distance company and is second favourite behind Twice Over for the Sandown Group One.

Fifth to Sea The Stars in last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and third to Conduit in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, Dar Re Mi returned this year with victory in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

Rising star Buick had not long been appointed stable jockey to the powerful Gosden operation and netting the near-£2million contest was a dream start for the partnership in late March.

Dar Re Mi has missed a couple of options and steps back onto the course against the likes of Prince of Wales’s Stakes runner-up Twice Over and Zacinto, who steps up from a mile for the first time.

Buick said: “She’s a stable star, an exceptional filly. What she did in Dubai was top class and it was a great experience for me.

“She is back down to a mile and a quarter for the first time in a while but I think she has a good chance.”

Kieren Fallon has been booked by Mark Johnston to ride Jukebox Jury, who was well behind Dar Re Mi in Dubai and has struggled in other domestic Group One events despite thriving abroad.

Fallon has won the Eclipse twice before, aboard Medicean in 2001 and Oratorio in 2005.

“Jukebox Jury may have finished one place ahead of Twice Over in last year’s Coral-Eclipse, but the betting suggests that Kieren Fallon will need to be at his very best to confirm that running on Saturday,” said Coral’s David Stevens.