Kameko on Song for Guineas

Trainer Andrew Balding had a positive report regarding G1SW Kameko (Kitten's Joy) in advance of the G1 English 2000 Guineas on June 6, Racing TV reported on Tuesday. The Qatar Racing runner galloped at Kempton last week. A last out winner of the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy S. over the Newcastle all-weather, the big bay opened his career with a debut win at Sandown, before a pair of runner-up efforts in the G3 Solario S. and the G2 Royal Lodge S.

“He had a gallop at Kempton last week and I couldn't be happier with the way he went,” Balding said in a press conference, held on Zoom, arranged by QIPCO British Champions Series on Tuesday afternoon. “He looks magnificent and is a lovely horse to have anything to do with. I hope and think he's the best we've had here for a good long while.

“We are all in the same boat [in terms of the horses all making their reappearances] but he's had three or four serious pieces of work since mid-March, albeit at staggered times, and his preparation is as good as it could have been. We are all excited.

“He's a big-framed horses, not the flashiest in his routine exercise but always type that every time when you ask him for a little bit more he's given and improved for it. Oisin [Murphy] was always saying that Roaring Lion seemed to thrive on racing and I think this horse is very similar.”.

Added Murphy, who rode Qatar Racing's late champion Roaring Lion (Kitten's Joy), “We didn't do anything silly, but he had a good blowout. He has a lovely turn of foot, as we all saw in his starts last year, but he's also very relaxed. You can put him anywhere, so from a jockey's point of view that is exciting as it leaves you with plenty of options. He goes there with a massive chance.”