Friday 27th September 2019

Author: Jordan Yates

Image: Jordan Yates

It’s Day Two of the Cambridgeshire Meeting at HQ and I’m kicking my preview off with the 1:50 which is the Rosemary Stakes a Listed event over a mile and the one I’ve sided with here is the William Haggas trained MAQSAD who’s the mount of Jim Crowley. She won twice here in the Spring before going onto contest top-level events and finding them too hot. This is a significant drop in grade and if returning to her Spring form she should be very hard to beat here. The main dangers in the race look to come in the form of John Gosden’s She’s Got You who’s Frankie’s ride and chasing a third consecutive win. Also, Chaleur who’s got solid course form here.

The second race on the card is a Group 3 contest for Fillies & Mares and the hot favourite here is Promissory for Gosden & Dettori. This is a race that John Gosden has done well in before and this looks a typically unexposed filly who could well be anything for her powerhouse connections. I’ve tried to look for a bit of value away from the jolly and I’ve done that with Richard Hannon’s STAR TERMS who’s ridden by Andrea Atzeni. She’s a very admirable performer at this sort of level and has every chance of playing a meaningful role once again. She won a Listed race in France a few starts ago and if producing that level of form here she’s certainly a player.

Next up is the Rockfel Stakes which is a Group 2 race for Fillies over seven furlongs and the standard is set here by Roger Varian’s Royal Ascot winner Daahyeh. She’s since gone on to post a couple of solid efforts in defeat once here at the July Meeting and most recently within Group 1 company at the Curragh. She’s certainly the one to beat. I am going to try and take her on though with one at a slightly bigger price and that’s Mark Johnston’s FESTIVAL DAY.  She comes here off the back of a win in novice company at Chepstow however the manner of the victory that day was very taking and despite this being a markedly big step up in class she could well be up to this sort of level. I was very impressed with her the last day. Others to note look to be Cloak Of Spirits who will be looking to return to the form of her Ascot win which has since been franked and also Blissful who arrives here off back to back wins for Aidan O’Brien

Concluding my preview for Day Two of the Cambridgeshire Meeting is the Joel Stakes which is also a Group 2 event this time over a mile. There are some very smart performers in the line up for this year’s renewal which include the likes of Benbatl who’s contested top-level events all over the world as well as Zaaki who’s a very smart performer on his day. I think it’s all about the favourite here though in KING OF COMEDY who I believe will produce for the goods for Gosden and Dettori. He’s contested two Group 1’s in his last two outings finishing a very close second at Royal Ascot before a fourth-place effort in the Juddmonte at York. As recent form goes that’s by far the best on offer here and he should be putting in a very bold showing.