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Aalto proves Cup king

French recruit Aalto secured his first victory since joining Ian Williams in the bet365 Bunbury Cup at Newmarket.

A multiple winner in his homeland, the four-year-old had finished second twice from six attempts for his new connections, most recently going down by just half a length at Haydock last week.

Stepping into what is always a fiercely competitive handicap, Aalto was a 15/2 shot in the hands of Rossa Ryan, who was happy to take his time in the early stages of the seven-furlong contest, burying his mount in midfield for much of the way.

The four-year-old began to make his move with three furlongs left to run, moving smoothly into the slipstream of the pacesetting Lethal Levi before being switched closer to the stands’ rail to throw down his challenge.

Aalto found another gear upon meeting the rising ground and was well on top at the line, beating the gallant Lethal Levi by two lengths.

Summerghand was third, with 5/1 favourite Carrytheone making late headway to grab fourth after enduring a troubled passage.

Williams said: “He’s been a little bit disappointing in lesser races and we thought we’d been unfortunate when it rained, but it’s great for the owners, who enjoyed a great run yesterday with Oneforthegutter (second). I thought we had a minimum of a miler when he came from France, and I thought he’d stay a bit further, maybe a mile and two, but I’ve got that wrong.

“What he wants is good cover and a strong pace and you are only going to get that in good races and the race opened up for him today. He probably got there too early. He travelled through his race well but I’ve seen him do that before and get beat, so it was good to see him win today.

“It’s a special race to win, we’ve been placed in it before and been disappointed not to win, so to come here and win a race like this – we’re not a huge stable, so it’s good to win. Assuming he comes out okay, Ascot (International Stakes) is very much on the agenda.”

Godolphin winner earns Guineas quotes

Desert Flower earned quotes for the 1000 Guineas with a stylish debut performance in the Rossdales British EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes.

Trainer Charlie Appleby was winning the seven-furlong maiden for the fifth time in eight years, this time with a daughter of Night Of Thunder. The money came late for Ollie Sangster’s Flight, ridden by Ryan Moore – and they made a bold bid for home.

But William Buick was able to move stylishly into contention going into the dip before pulling away nicely to win by three and a quarter lengths at 5/2.

Betfair and Paddy Power introduced her into the 1000 Guineas betting at 33/1.

Appleby said: “They’ve done a great job with her because we couldn’t get her in the stalls a couple of weeks ago – and when she did eventually go in, she didn’t want to come out!

“She’s a filly that has obviously got natural ability but is still very raw. William said he was surprised she was able to win today. He sat on her the other day and said he liked her and she was ready to run, but he was surprised how she came into the race.

“I don’t want to say anything too bold but she’ll appreciate stepping up to a mile, she appreciated the conditions and we might work back from something like the May Hill, but there’s water to go under the bridge before then.

“It was a nice performance and there will be marked improvement because she’s been so raw at home. It was nice to see her pick up when she met the rising ground and go away, there’s a lot of potential there.”

Appleby and Buick then doubled up when Wood Ditton winner First Conquest (12/1) got back to winning ways in the bet365 Mile Handicap.

Having his first run in handicap company and sporting a first-time hood, he got the better of Treasure Time by a neck.

Appleby said: “He won the Wood Ditton and that worked out quite well, but he went to York and had a bad experience, but he ran a creditable race last time and I was surprised he was such a big price today.

“The key thing was to get him in behind horses and get him to settle and switched off and that meant biding his time.

“I think he might be a horse for the (Dubai) Carnival to be honest, whether we have another run here we’ll see.”

Waterhouse recruit signs off in style

Asian Daze (9/1) signed off her career in Europe in the best possible fashion when carrying top weight to victory in the Bedford Lodge Hotel & Spa Fillies’ Handicap.

Formerly trained by Johnny Murtagh in Ireland, she was bought by Australian handler Gai Waterhouse at the Ascot sale and performed with credit when ninth in the Sandringham.

Sent to fellow Aussie Jane Chapple-Hyam for her swansong on these shores, she battled gamely for Billy Loughnane and held off Lou Lou’s Gift by a neck.

“I’m very pleased to be training her for Gai, I’m also one of her owners, so we go back a long way,” said Chapple-Hyam.

“I think she’ll go into quarantine now before heading to Australia. She’d been training well and we’d been sending reports to Gai every other day.”

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