By Adam Houghton
Fresh from Friday's double with a pair of exciting two-year-old fillies, Charlie Appleby returned to the Rowley Mile bright and early on Saturday morning to oversee racecourse gallops for some of the biggest names at Moulton Paddocks, including the 2,000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes winner Notable Speech (Ire) who could yet stay in training as a four-year-old according to his trainer.
Breeders' Cup Mile contender Notable Speech finished his exercise nicely clear of his galloping companion, Highland Avenue (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), in the hands of regular work rider Paul Eddery, while William Buick and James Doyle were involved in a later group featuring the four-time Group 1 winner Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), one-time Derby favourite Arabian Crown (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) and last year's Futurity Trophy winner Ancient Wisdom (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}).
Buick partnered the long-absent Arabian Crown, who has been off the track since he was successful in the Classic Trial at Sandown in April, with Doyle doing the steering on Ancient Wisdom, last seen winning the Bahrain Trophy at the July Festival.
“I was pleased with him, he had a nice blow, and that will put him right,” Appleby said of Notable Speech, who was confirmed as a likely absentee from next weekend's Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, with an appearance at Del Mar on Saturday, November 2 always uppermost in the thoughts of connections due to the expectation of fast ground.
Notable Speech reportedly failed to handle the testing conditions when finishing only fifth in last month's Prix du Moulin at Longchamp, but Appleby took encouragement from the way the son of Dubawi (Ire) coped with the experience of travelling such a long distance for the first time in his career.
“I've noted it before, he has his characteristics,” Appleby continued. “If anything that [how he handled the travelling] was the positive we took out of the weekend in Longchamp. It was sort of a double-edged sword. Firstly, we wanted to know how he travelled and he ticked that box. Secondly, we just wanted to confirm what we really thought on that ground. We thought he was unlikely to be able to go through it and he didn't.
“He's not a soft ground horse and you could just see that a bit today. He makes hard work of it in that ground but knowing our luck it will be a dry week next week and Ascot will be good to firm!”
Charlie Appleby watches on as his 2,000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes winner Notable Speech finishes clear of Highland Avenue in a racecourse gallop @NewmarketRace this morning 🔵 @godolphin @theTDN pic.twitter.com/WpPn2Ztt2H
— Adam Houghton (@hought94) October 12, 2024
Appleby certainly hasn't enjoyed much luck this year in the case of Arabian Crown, who was a general 7-2 chance for the Derby when he was ruled out of Epsom due to a setback. It's now been more than five months since he was last seen in competitive action, but a return to the track before the end of the year is on the cards for a colt who has blossomed into an imposing individual during his time on the sidelines.
“He looks great and physically he's done fantastically well,” said Appleby. “We might look at coming up here for the Listed James Seymour Stakes [on Saturday, November 2] and then he'll most likely go out to Dubai. He can do the usual stuff out there and go for the City Of Gold, and maybe the Sheema Classic.
“He's going to be a lovely, middle-distance horse for next year and he'll be trained accordingly. There was no rush with him. I'm in a period where I am rebuilding and the older horses are what we need, so I wasn't going to go forcing issues just for this year. Himself and Ancient Wisdom–and potentially Notable Speech–will be around next year and they're going to be a force to be reckoned with.”
On more immediate plans for Ancient Wisdom, Appleby added, “He's going to go to Germany for the Grosser Preis von Bayern [on Sunday, November 10]. He's a horse who excels in testing conditions and another who should make a lovely four-year-old. We'll probably campaign him in the second half of the year and purposely wait until the autumn.”
The last group of @godolphin horses to have a racecourse gallop @NewmarketRace this morning included the four-time Group 1 winner Nations Pride (left), one-time Derby favourite Arabian Crown (centre) and last year's Futurity Trophy winner Ancient Wisdom 🔵 @theTDN pic.twitter.com/Z1mXWAoImV
— Adam Houghton (@hought94) October 12, 2024
Appleby has campaigned many of his leading older horses internationally this year, including Arlington Million winner Nations Pride, who hasn't raced in Britain since finishing down the field in the 2022 Derby won by Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). He is set to make his next appearance in the Bahrain International Trophy, a Group 2 in which he finished seventh last year.
On home soil, it's the two-year-olds who have been flying the flag for the yard in recent weeks, including on Friday when Desert Flower (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) ran out an emphatic winner of the Fillies' Mile. At the time of writing stable-mates Shadow Of Light (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Ancient Truth (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) dominate the betting for the Dewhurst Stakes later on Saturday after Ballydoyle's The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was ruled out due to a bruised foot.
Appleby has an ace up his sleeve still to play, too, namely Anno Domini (GB), who was another to take part in a racecourse gallop on Saturday in the company of Victory Dance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). Bought for 525,000gns at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale, Anno Domini has options at Doncaster and Newbury later this month, having won both his previous starts at Newbury and Sandown.
“He's a horse that we like,” Appleby said of the New Bay (GB) colt. “We purposely gave him a break after Sandown, thinking he might be an autumn horse. I was pleased with what I saw from him this morning and we're toying with whether we go for the Horris Hill or whether we're a bit punchier and have a crack at the Futurity Trophy. We'll see how much he comes forward for that bit of work. He's a New Bay and we know they like cut in the ground, so he should be easy to place anyway.”
Unbeaten two-year-old Anno Domini (left), alongside Victory Dance, warmed up for options at Newbury and Doncaster later this month with a racecourse gallop @NewmarketRace this morning 🔵 @godolphin @theTDN pic.twitter.com/D11mghOtqg
— Adam Houghton (@hought94) October 12, 2024
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
