Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot

PF will cr@p on mehmas

Worst 2yr olds in years,nothings done anything on the clock and there's been nothing on decent gtound yet...

Worst 2yr olds in years,nothings done anything on the clock and there's been nothing on decent gtound yet...

Backed Psycedelic Funk too at 10/1. He bolted in last time and heads to Ascot next run.

Think Psychedelic Funk will eat him for breakfast.

"Worst 2yos in years" - don't think so. I have as many 2yos rated 100+ as I'd expect at this time of year. What I can't understand though is that my 2 fastest 2yos aren't even quoted for either the Coventry or the Norfolk at the moment. Think at least one of them will be before the end of this weekend.

Roly Poly ... not sure if it will be the coventry though!

Aidan O'Brien and Seamie Heffernan teamed up to take the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden with choicely-bred newcomer Roly Poly.

Allowed to go off at 10-1, despite being a daughter of War Front out of the stable's four-time Group One winner Misty For Me, Roly Poly quickened between horses to lead inside the final furlong before fending off the late thrust of Gone To Russia by a short head.

"You'd have to be delighted with that. She was very green and just ready to come racing," said O'Brien.

"Seamie gave her a brilliant ride and nursed her along. He only gave her one little backhand flick.

"Hopefully she'll progress really nicely from that and she could be an Ascot filly. She's quick.

"It's lovely ground out there and this is a lovely place to start them."

Caravaggio, 11/10 to 1/3 on debut, beats a subsequent winner, great name, great painter 10/1, I'm in.

Where are all these 100 horses you're on about,nearly all the forms been on soft or desperate ground....

Caravaggio looked decent enough there Notsofastmyfriend, beat Mister Trader nicely and they pulled a long way clear Ambiguity who was 2nd to PF last time.

Easy for Cara, he's worth more than David with the Head of Goliath now.

@thegiggilo : I have a number of horses rated 100+, the grounds is immaterial. Ratings are relative to the conditions, a horse can rate 100+ on heavy going.

You could draw up dozens of early season races and get horses with decent ratings,most of them have since flopped even just running on soft ground those heavy ground times rarely work out as only a very small % of horses act on it that's why you get the fields strung out so much.
Carravagio visually looked the best seen so far think the time was decent today as well,still not convinced its the Coventry horse,think he will have another to come yet..

There is a Wesley Ward trained juvenile colt by Group 1 winning sprinter Foxwedge ( First-season sire- high-class Australian sprinter who stands (NHem) at Whitsbury Manor Stud and along with Fascinating Rock is joint top rated of Fastnet Rock offspring) that will soon appear in ante-post lists. Named Star Empire, he was an impressive winner eased down by six and a half lengths at Belmont 19th May over 5f. It looks like he is on the Royal Ascot trail, with the Coventry Stakes on the radar. Star Empire's sire raced for the same owners (Bateman family), who coincidentally are a shareholder in  the exciting ex-Aussie colt Vancouver who is being targeted at Diamond Jubilee Stakes. There is probably no more dangerous trainer to leave out of consideration for races at Royal Ascot and it seems he is very highly rated.

"I know it sounds a far way off but this is the type of horse that can win the Breeders Cup Juvenile. I genuinely believe that. He's just a really talented 2yo and it's more about him, than what I've done with," said trainer Wesley Ward.

http://www.newgate.com.au/articles/foxwedge-winner-for-ward-at-belmont.html

Link to a recording of Star Empire’s win can be found at the link below;.

https://vimeo.com/167351718

Another horse to consider is the Dutch Art colt, Van Der Decken (captain of the legendary ghost ship the Flying Dutchman) who won nicely on his debut at the Curragh in the six-furlong contest that went to Air Force Blue 12 months ago. A first juvenile winner for trainer Paddy Twomey and heavily backed from long odds early.

Paddy Twomey has bred two Group 1 horses in Tagula (4th in the Coventry and won Prix Morny, sire of Canford Cliffs, Limato) and the Cheveley Park Stakes winner Serious Attitude, and was/is a well-known studmaster/vender in two-year-old breeze-up and pin-hooking (bought and sold Vale of York, Breeders' Cup Juvenile). He had a 24% strike-rate/ 4 horses/4 wins from 17 in Ireland last year. He obviously knows the time of day with 2yo's.

"He was impressive and I was happy with him," said Twomey. "We'll keep Ascot in mind for him, for sure. He's come out of it in good form and I think he'll prefer a bit nicer ground. He's out of a Green Desert mare, whose sister was a fast-ground winner in Canada. In time you'd think he may stay a bit further. We'll just have a think about everything."

He is currently 16/1 in a few bookies lists and if he comes over I’d bet he will hammered down from those odds.

Mokarris put up a useful performance at Haydock today, just a tad slower than the 3yo hcap and 0.3s quicker than Dream of dreams in the 2nd div.
So useful performance fto. If he can step up on that then should be a contender. You'd think on breeding that faster ground should suit.

Any idea if Wesley Ward's "Star Empire" has made it to the UK? Ive heard a lot about his fillies but not much about his colts.

Wilycayote- There is a  George Baker Tweet @GBakerRacing 'Wesley Ward Ascot bound flying filly Lady Aurelia enjoys the Manton views' May 30th, so the rest of the Wesley Ward horses must be here, I presume.

Wilycayote-

He could be an amazing advertisement for first season sire Foxwedge whose 2016 Stud Fee is GBP 7,000 (Timeform rated 128, the same as Starspangledbanner). That will look cheap if Star Empire looks good, and wins the Coventry.

Mokarris for me looks the one with the most room in the price. Crisford still going great too

ATB: "Caravaggio won on soft ground but shouldn't be a soft-ground horse at all."

Does that mean Psychedelic Funk is next best?

We don't really know how many of these will like the very soft going likely.

Psycho funk, Carravaggio and Mokkaris have form on soft.

However if its really soft ar 33/1 in a place

Van Der Dekken looks a huge price. He definitely will love the considtions and has decent form - won a decent Curragh maiden from on Jim Bolger horse and another about 4 of Aiden's. If he had a more famous trainer he would less than half the current odds.

Sorry Madhu, you alreadt flagged VDD up. He is 33s with B365 and that does seem to me to be long odds for one who won well in real soft ground given the state of the going and the weather forecast at Ascot.

Carravaggio

Is banker of the meeting.

I'm sticking with Mehmas -  drawn 1 though which is not great.

Will there be a last minute plunge on Caravaggio? The 'Coolmore' boys like to flex their muscles in the betting market before a big race eg The Guineas, Derby, Leger, etc.

S Crisford is training Mokarris for Sheikh Hamdan.....when will Sheikh Mohammed do the same?

wd notsofastmyfriend, that was a monster performance. wd on getting that 10/1

that must be some machine that for me

Wow - hugely impressive.

Yep, very impressive victory. Managed to get a bit of 8/1 and 6/1 for the 2000G next year.