Mubtaker books Arc ticket
Mubtaker continues to show what an improved horse he is and he put up a convincing display to land the Coral September Stakes at Kempton under Richard Hills.
The six-year-old appears to be getting better with age and skipped away from his four rivals to take the Group Three contest.
He scored by an easy five lengths from First Charter, who had attempted to bustle up the winner by disputing the advantage but had no more to give when the favourite edged ahead on the home turn.
Trainer Marcus Tregoning is now set to aim his charge at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp and hopes that one of his favourite horses will be up to the challenge.
“He is certainly one of the toughest horses I have ever trained, but he is lightly raced and he will go on next year,” Tregoning said.
“We’ll see how the race pans out and what everybody else decides to run before we make our minds up about the Arc.
“I am no expert on the race but this is a good horse and I think he would run well in the race, providing the ground wasn’t bottomless.
“He has won on heavy ground but when it does rain there it can be very, very testing by the time the Arc is run and I wouldn’t be sure about him on that.
“I have trained Silver Hawks who have gone on any ground – Albarahin won the Prix Dollar on very soft ground at the Arc meeting.”
Bookmakers William Hill and Victor Chandler both cut his price for the French spectacular from 16-1 to 12-1.
In the past, Mubtaker has to some extent lived in the shadow of stablemate, Nayef.
He has gone out to Dubai for the previous two winters in order to act as Nayef’s lead horse in his preparations for the World Cup meeting.
“He trained Nayef to win the Sheema Classic last year – there is no doubt about that,” said Tregoning.
“He is such a reliable yardstick. He is very easy to train and a lovely character.
“He can be ridden from the front or the back, and I think he has got a lot of class.
“He is so lightly raced that he could easily still be improving at six.
“If we don’t go to France then the alternative would be the Canadian International, which Mutamam won after winning this race a couple of years ago.”
Tregoning completed a double when Snow Ridge made a winning debut in the Coral Fantasy 4-4-2 Conditions Stakes.
The choicely-bred colt, by Indian Ridge out of Snow Princess, comfortably accounted for 4-9 favourite Iqte Saab.
Victor Chandler reacted quickly to the winner’s performance in installing him at 25-1 for the 2000 Guineas.
Another trainer set to break new ground is Hughie Morrison, who hopes to have his first two-year-old runner in a Group One race when Pastoral Pursuits contests the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket in October.
The son of Bahamian Bounty, who himself won the Middle Park in 1996, showed just what a speedy performer he is as he streaked away with the Coral Sirenia Stakes to extend his winning sequence to three.
At the line, the 11-10 favourite had two lengths in hand of Diosypros Blue, who stayed on take second place a neck ahead of Cartography – who had raced on his own throughout on the far side of the track as the jockeys took differing views over the location of the best ground.
“I think we will have to go for the Middle Park now,” said Morrison. “It has got to be worth having a go at it.
“When I saw him come into the sales ring I adored him from that minute.
“I didn’t know anything about his breeding but when I arrived here today I bumped into Michael Jarvis, who trained his dam (Star), and he told me that she was very decent until she got a leg injury and never raced again.
“I had to go to 24,000 guineas to get him, which was quite a lot for me, but I found some owners who were willing to pay that sort of money. I suppose I wish I hadn’t now!”
Pastoral Pursuits was given a 40-1 quote for next year’s 2000 Guineas by Victor Chandler.
Runner-up Diosypros Blue delighted his connections and will be aimed at the Two-Year-Old Trophy at Redcar next month.
Terry Mills’ end-of-season renaissance continued when A Very Good Year took the six-furlong Coral Backing Cancer Research UK Handicap.
The Epsom trainer’s team was forced into a total shutdown during June when a viral infection took hold in the yard.
“It was terrible,” recalled Mills. “They all went down with it and there’s nothing you can do.
“There’s no quick way back when you are scoping 30 horses a week. But things are picking right up again now.
“I think you will be hearing a lot of this fellow next year when I think he could make a nice little
sprinter.”
Polish Corridor gained deserved reward for a host of highly-consistent efforts as he captured the opening Coral Telebet 0800 242 232 Handicap
John Egan’s mount was always travelling strongly in the 10-furlong Coral Telebet 0800 242 232 Handicap and stayed on powerfully to hold the challenge of Rule Britannia by half a length.
