Tony McFadden of Timeform provides an overview of the key things to note for Wednesday’s racing.
Three points of interest
Newcastle winners clash in strong Thirsk novice
The seven-furlong novice on the eve of Newcastle’s Northumberland Plate fixture produced two impressive winners as Germanic, representing William Haggas, bolted up in the first division while Ten Pounds, trained by Harry Charlton, won the second division with a good deal to spare.
Both three-year-olds had started out in the same novice at Newbury in May, with Ten Pounds finishing fourth and Germanic down the field in tenth, but they had clearly gained plenty of benefit from that initial experience and looked like smart prospects at Newcastle.
Ordinarily they’d have been a banker for another novice under a penalty before having their sights set on good-quality handicaps. However, they have ended up in the same seven-furlong novice at Thirsk (15:22), along with Bobby Bennu who was also a wide-margin winner last time and represents a top yard in Roger Varian.
This is a race that will take plenty of winning and should tell us a lot more about the prospects of this promising trio.
John Steinbeck a notable newcomer for Ballydoyle
Aidan O’Brien introduces John Steinbeck in the mile maiden (17:50) at Killarney on Wednesday, though he’s not the first horse at Ballydoyle to have been named after the literary giant.
Back in 2009 a Footstepsinthesand colt called Steinbeck won on debut at Naas in May and he was seemingly very highly regarded as he was the pick of stable jockey Johnny Murtagh when next seen in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket five months later.
Steinbeck shaped with plenty of promise in the Dewhurst but had to settle for fourth with stablemates Beethoven and Fencing Master filling the first two spots. And his career was ultimately one of unfulfilled potential, for all he was runner-up in a Group 2 at Sha Tin and won a Group 1 in New Zealand under the name Pure Champion.
You would imagine that hopes are also high for the latest colt named after the Nobel Prize winner as John Steinbeck is bred along similar lines to Group 1-winning juvenile Henry Longfellow who is also by Dubawi and out of a Galileo mare from one of Coolmore’s top families.
John Steinbeck’s dam, Coolmore, may not have been anything like as successful as Henry Longfellow’s dam, Minding, on the track, but she is bred in the purple being a sister to classic winners Gleneagles and Marvellous out of Giant’s Causeway’s sister You’resothrilling. Coolmore’s first two foals were disappointing, but the fact this one has been named after such a prominent figure suggests better is expected.
Billams Legacy bidding to snap frustrating sequence
Will this finally be the day Billams Legacy gets off the mark over hurdles? Connections have certainly had to be patient as, remarkably, Billams Legacy has finished runner-up on her last seven starts spanning a period of more than two years, and there have been plenty of agonising defeats along the way.
For all seven of those defeats she traded at shorter than 2.7 in running, while three times she was matched at evens or shorter, including once at 1.13.
In a bid to gain that elusive success, Billams Legacy drops back into maiden company (14:10) at Uttoxeter having been campaigned in handicaps since returning from a long layoff in April.
The level she has shown in handicaps mark her out as the one to beat on the figures – she’s 7 lb clear on Timeform’s ratings – but the unexposed Value Added, who at four is less than half the age of Billams Legacy, looks like a potential improver. It would be no surprise to see the incredible sequence of seconds continue.
Tip of the Day
My Ambition – 17:30 Bath
Flags: Horse In Focus, Top-Rated
My Ambition was disappointing on his first two starts of the season but he took a big step back in the right direction when runner-up at Leicester last month, arguably going like the best horse at the weights but pressing on too soon. He was overhauled by a subsequent winner but showed enough to suggest that he’s back in the sort of form to be of interest from a mark 2 lb lower than the one he last defied over this course and distance last June. That was My Ambition’s second course-and-distance win over 2023, so he’s clearly effective around here, and Oisin Murphy is a positive jockey booking.
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