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Seven days after an aborted trip to Ascot, Wonderful Tonight extended their winning streak to four with comfortable success in the Group Two Lillie Langtry Stakes. David Menuisier’s filly may have two more runs before heading to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, as his connections try to nominate a jockey for the big race in Paris on October 3.
William Buick, who is getting married on Sunday, has been in exceptional shape all week and led a confident race over Wonderful Tonight, the 8-11 favorite. The four-year-old, who raced 14 stages for the first time in four starts, took a strong hold in the early stages but still had more than enough to go over two stages, before holding Tribal Craft and Albaflora with ease. .
Wonderful Tonight was Buick’s seventh victory of the meeting and is now back in second place in the Flat Jockeys title race, behind defending champion Oisin Murphy.
Buick is almost certain to be claimed for Operation Godolphin at Longchamp in October, however, most likely aboard Derby winner Adayar. Murphy, meanwhile, was due to ride Wonderful Tonight last Saturday in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes before too fast pitch ruled him out, but he’s already been booked for Japan’s top prospect Chrono Genesis.
This will probably leave a place for a local rider, who should have the opportunity to meet his new partner in the Un Prix Vermeille Group, three weeks before the Arc.
“She’s fresh and would have preferred to run last week,” said Chris Wright, owner of Wonderful Tonight. “She went to Ascot and got back in the van without running. She needs to run so we had to run today and we would like to have her run a few more before the big day if we can.
“There are the Yorkshire Oaks [on 19 August], which is going to be a fairly difficult race, and also the Prix de Pomone in Deauville the same weekend. Then you would have to look at the Vermeille, which she raced last year when she was beaten by a few lengths, but the ground was pretty fast that day.
“I guess we would get [William] for the Yorkshire Oaks but we have ideas for French jockeys for the Arc and we may have to go down that route. This gives us a reason to race in the Vermeille, so the same jockey can ride it in the Arc.
Quick guide
Greg Wood’s Sunday Tips
Show
Rasen Market
1.00 Long table
1.30 king’s overseer
2.00 Late
2.30 Mr. Mafia
3.00 Chives
3.35 czech release
4.05 Midnight Jewel
4.37 Daughter of Le Morne
thirsty
1.50 Bloomington Bride
2.22 Power of the Princess
2.52 Waldlowe
3.25 Safran
3.57 Headingley
4.30 Doctor Parnassus (nap)
5.00 Night terrors
5.30 Lucy’s Rules
Chester
2.10 Mytilde
2.40 prosperous journey
3.10 Dakota Gold
3.45 love is gold
4.15 Maglev
4.45 No baby
5.15 Fairmac
Wonderful Tonight is top-priced at 8-1 for the Arc and increasingly looks like a very serious contender, assuming she gets the cut in the ground that normally prevails at Longchamp in October. Snowfall, the winner of the Oaks and Irish Oaks, leads the market at 7-2 while Adayar has a 5-1 chance and Hurricane Lane, the Irish Derby winner and another possible Buick partner, has a record of 7-1.
The Stewards’ Cup, the big betting race on the last day of Glorious Goodwood, traveled north to County Durham after Commanche Falls came up with a strong late run under Connor Beasley to beat Gulliver by a neck of 10 -1.
For Beasley, it was the biggest victory of a career that was on the line after sustaining serious injuries in a fall at Wolverhampton in July 2015.
“It means a lot,” Beasley said. “Commanche Falls is a horse that gets better and better with each descent. Today was a better career for me and the horse.
“If things aren’t going well, you can question yourself. However, I really got the ball rolling, things are going well and I couldn’t have wished for that.
“I had a bad fall in 2015. I broke my skull, hurt my neck and back and did a good job on myself. There are still doubts, but there was no doubt in my mind that I would return. I went to Jack Berry House and was away for a total of eight months. I came back and my first two laps were in Wolverhampton, that was a story to tell.
“I always had in mind that I would go back to where I wanted to be.”
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