By Tom Frary
Ascot's Wednesday fixture features some interesting pointers to the Royal meeting and, while the card needs some work to be seen as a true “trials” event, the G3 British Racing School 40th Anniversary Commonwealth Cup Trial is likely to provide some meaningful clues ahead of the main event. The six-furlong test, registered as the Pavilion S., sees the return of Victorious Racing's impressive G2 Coventry S. winner Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) who has not been seen since sustaining an injury during the G1 Phoenix S. in August.
“He's looking like a typical sprinter now and he's a chunky little horse,” jockey Hollie Doyle said of the TDN Rising Star. “His work has been pretty solid and it's a great starting point. It's practically the Commonwealth Cup minus a few, so it's a very hot race. He has his course-and-distance form and although he may be unknown on the ground, a few of them are in the same boat.”
Paying The Penalty
Forced to race under a four-pound extra burden are Godolphin's G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Mischief Magic (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and Rockcliffe Stud's G2 Flying Childers S. and G3 Molecomb S. scorer Trillium (GB) (No Nay Never), with Charlie Appleby saying of the former, “He is better suited to a bigger field and a sounder surface, but it's very much a starting point for the season and hopefully a stepping stone to the Commonwealth Cup.” Both failed to make a serious impact in their Newmarket Group 1 tests in the autumn and Trillium needs to prove she can see out this sixth furlong and race with more restraint.
New Route For Marbaan
Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's G2 Vintage S. winner Marbaan (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) failed in two Group 1 contests at two, leaving Charlie Fellowes keen to test the waters back at sprinting. “I felt towards the end of last year that maybe he didn't quite see out the seven furlongs,” he said. “Being by Oasis Dream, I think there's a good chance he might be happier over six furlongs and I think Ascot will really suit him. I think the ground will be perfect and I guess we'll find out where we really stand for this year. He took a while to come to hand this year but he did a really nice piece of work last week and that's given me the confidence that six furlongs should be fine.”
The Long And The Short Of It
Wednesday's G3 Longines Sagaro S. and Listed Howden Bloodstock Paradise S. offer the chance for the Gold Cup and Queen Anne hopefuls to stretch their legs, with the former hosting another encounter between gunslingers Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) and Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), who duked it out in the course-and-distance G2 British Champions Long Distance Cup in October while the Paradise sees Sunderland Holdings' G1 Champion S. third My Prospero (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) revert to the mile over which he was third in last year's G1 St James's Palace S.
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