Sky Sports Racing’s Gina Price has the lowdown on Day 1’s feature at Doncaster and a wealth of racing!
Qing Shih – Knight: Jim Crowley | D. M. Simcock
Beautifully bred Madame Chiang, out of a Group 1 winner, demonstrated her desire to take a step forward in this outing in the Geoffrey Frere last time out when she galloped to finish less than two lengths behind leading St Leger candidate Arrest giving him 3lbs.
While she may have been flattered by her finishing position after turning away from the heat of the race to run late, there is no doubt that the extended ride and forecast rain will play into her hands and a literal reading of this model puts her in the lead. The top of the pile.
Divine Jewel – Pa Curtis | R. Varian
A half-sister to last week’s Moyglare winner Fallen Angel out of the intelligent young May Hill winner Agnes Stewart, Divine Jewel has inherited a lot of stamina from her sire Frankel and is a strong resident this trip.
She took a big step up from the handicap ranks last year to place in the Black Type races on four occasions, but consistency in her form means she will need to drop things just right to complete her only career win.
Golden Lyra – Tom Marquand | W.J. Hijaz
She has declared her need to step up for the ride, a relatively unexposed four-year-old who has enjoyed a light campaign this year, by producing a career-best performance over the mile and a half over heavy ground at Deauville the last time she set the fastest pace He finished three furlongs behind the winner, Melo Melo, who was a furlong away from winning the Prix Vermeil last weekend.
Her pedigree is full of German Oaks and Derby winners as well as Group One winner Sea The Moon and her profile suggests she is gunning for a peak of performance that will be more than good enough to win this one.
Night Sparkle – Oisin Murphy | Morning Balding
Night Sparkle is a seasoned performer with a hat-trick of wins during this trip for Michael O’Callaghan after his maiden win at Punchestown in May, and is a popular player and clearly on the rise. He made his debut for Andrew Blading on Thursday and faces a tough task in her first step into Pattern’s company with the prospect of competing for the lead presenting another challenge.
One Night – W Buick | J&T Gosden
A lightly raced filly who put together two likable performances over 12 feet on good to firm ground at graded level last time and lines up with the trainer who has dominated this race in recent years.
The move of this trip to York in May did not provide conclusive evidence that this would be in her favor but she is stronger and more experienced now although the prospect of forecast rain and a strong test on the trip may challenge her.
Sumo Sam – Rosa Ryan | B&O Cole
Sumo Sam enjoyed the effort during this trip over heavy ground to set a career best on Lily Langtry last time out, and while it is easy to take a dim view of the result in light of her coming out on top on unusually attritional ground, there could be more to it. It’s coming from this three-year-old.
She will likely face different conditions on Thursday and challenge for the top spot, but that dampens her enthusiasm to back up such a dominant performance until she faces similarly exceptional conditions perhaps in the fall.
Boogie Woogie – R.L. Moore | A. B. O’Brien
A close run behind Oaks winner Savethelastdance in April brought Boogie Woogie into hot company including when outpaced in the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary.
Its aspirations have been lowered since then, and an escalation of the trip is on the agenda for Thursday. It is dangerous to dismiss anything that represents those links, as she has to ignore the poor performance she had after a break last time out in Cork.
Crack of Light – Syren Fallon | W.J. Hijaz
Crack of Light was one of two in the field for William Haggs alongside Golden Lyra, running well 10 furlongs behind subsequent G1 winner Warm Heart at Newbury in May and building on that form over A mile and a half since then.
She hasn’t been able to put her last two starts at this level to bed but there have been good excuses. A more balanced gallop than she last faced would be appropriate but there is a suspicion that the distance over one mile and six furlongs might just stretch the daughter of Kingman to her limits.
LMAY – K Shoemark | J&T Gosden
John and Tade Gosden’s second runner in the field has proven difficult to rein in in recent starts and will need to settle better if she is to continue this step up in trip. With her form seemingly plateauing in the face of so much activity, she is also likely to face softer conditions on Thursday for the first time and improvement will be needed here.
Shamwari – S Levy IGB O’Brien
Joseph O’Brien won this race with Bista in 2020, a US-bred three-year-old with a similarly light race to rival Shamwari this year. With just five starts under her belt so far, there are reasons to believe the Dundalk debutant winner can improve although she will need to apply herself better in the cheek cut for the first time.
There was a lot to like about her final effort behind Crack of Light in Group 3 company at Deauville last time out despite her finishing position, but there is a lot to like about the way she started the race. The progression of the journey is sure to be favorable, and if the cheek pieces can sharpen them, they may beat their odds for a price.
Referee: Jenna Price
A field of closely matched fillies with potential for improvement over the course of this journey makes this a difficult race to evaluate however Golden Lyra She appears to have a lot of ticks in the boxes and could give her trainer William Haggas a first win in this race to start what could be a historic week for the team.
Heavy rain on Town Moor will also favor Ching Shih and it would not be surprising to see her go one better in her career last time out.
