Fallon set to renew old acquaintances in Challenge
Unsuitably quick ground saw Ascription bypass the Newmarket heat with Palmer biding his time in favour of the £150,000 Betfred “Goals Galore” Challenge Cup over seven furlongs in Berkshire.
The four-year-old must shoulder top weight in the race with his rating of 109 and with William Buick required at Newmarket, Fallon will be in the plate.
While Palmer does not view that as a negative, it will mark the first occasion Fallon has ridden for owner Ibrahim Araci since their dramatic court battle in 2011 when Fallon sought to get off Araci’s Native Khan to ride the Coolmore-owned Recital on the eve of the Investec Derby.
Palmer said: “William gets on incredibly well with the horse but I don’t think he does anything particularly clever. I think he just keeps it simple, he’s got good hands and fires him at the right moment.
“Kieren is more than capable, he’s one of the world’s leading riders, and you get to the stage on a Saturday when the talent is spread pretty thin. There’s good racing at Redcar this weekend as well as Newmarket and Ascot, not to mention France. If you’re lucky enough to have a Group One pilot, you take them,” he told his www.StanJames.com blog.
Palmer is well aware of the task his recent runaway Doncaster winner faces conceding weight to all in the ultra-competitive handicap heat.
Palmer said, “It’s a big ask for Ascription. When I was at Hughie Morrison’s we won the Wokingham with Baltic King off top weight and I remember the write-up in the Racing Post afterwards described it as one of the great weight-carrying performances of the modern era.
“I would suggest Ascription has a similar task ahead of him. It’s hard to know whether or not he’s up to it.
“He is in really good form. He’s come out of Doncaster very well. I’m very pleased with him and he looks fantastic.
“I’ve said for a long time that I think the stiff seven furlongs at Ascot would suit him and I think that there’s a lot of things in his favour. He seems to be nicely drawn – he’s drawn quite near to the speed. The ground will go his way, there’s a lot of boxes ticked but then he has got to carry 9st 10lb.
“It’s a lot of weight but he’s very big and very strong. If you were to design a horse to shoulder top weight in a massive handicap like this then a big strong, strong-galloping horse like him would be the horse you’d choose. And so obviously I hope he can.
“I can’t see any horse that’s thrown in there or a Group horse hiding in a handicap. They look to me to be really consistent, tough, respectable handicappers.”
