Cambridgeshire Meeting: five things the RaceiQ data told us

Top-level sprints can turn on the smallest of incidents and things looked bleak for Wise Approach in the Tattersalls Middle Park Stakes when the hot favourite stumbled soon after the start and found himself detached in last place. 

He completed the first furlong in a pedestrian 15.13sec, compared to the 14.37sec recorded by the leader, Five Ways. 

Wise Approach still had all eight of his rivals to pass at halfway and his problem were compounded when William Buick then had to switch around rivals and challenge widest of all. 

The prize looked be slipping away with his in-running odds hitting 15-1, but good horses find ways to overcome adversity and that’s what he did, conjuring a sustained run through the second half of the contest to eventually win with a bit to spare from Brussels. 

He was marginally fastest of all the runners through furlongs two and three, and then clocked 11.10sec (fastest again), 10.89sec (second fastest) and 11.93sec (easily fastest) for the final three furlongs to rescue things. He could even afford to hang left in the closing stages. 

Overall, this probably was not a vintage edition, with the winning time also being 0.66sec slower than par and the RaceiQ Time Index (based on a decade of data) being no better than 4.4 (meeting average 5.2). 

But Wise Approach, who had previously been a close third in the Prix Morning, had to be on a different level to prevail, and he should make his mark in the top sprints next year. 

“The plan was to drop in and he did!” Appleby said with a smile. “All joking apart, we never expected to stumble but the plan was to drop in. 

“I felt in the Morny that William gave him a great ride, but I did feel that when he kicked on, he was electrifying and then just pulled up in front. So, I said to William to put him there on the line today. He did that but it wasn’t an easy watch. Full credit to William and the horse. I am delighted. 

“He is battle-hardened and by Mehmas. He is a half-brother to a good sprinter (Group One winner Perfect Power). I’d say that will be it for the year, but we’ll see what the team want to do. The Commonwealth Cup will be he plan next season.” 

It looks a good plan, with William Hill making him 10-1. 

Winners of the Tattersalls Stakes are subsequently rarely sighted in the 2000 Guineas but Distant Storm has the three Ps in his armoury - pace, power and potential – and has what it takes to change all that at Newmarket in just over seven months’ time. 

The acceleration he showed in the final two furlongs on Thursday was electric, with nothing else in the field able to get near the 11.11sec and 12.28sec closing furlongs that he was able to post. He clocked 40.46mph when putting his stamp in the penultimate furlong, which was easily the highest speed in the race, and pulled almost five lengths clear of Commander’s Intent, a decent yardstick who came into the race with an official handicap rating of 97. 

Distant Storm pounced from off the pace, settling much better than he had when fluffing his lines in the Acomb, but do not be fooled into thinking they went quick upfront and played into his hands. The pace had been even, producing a level playing field for all seven runners. 

In addition, the Night Of Thunder colt, previously winner of hottest maiden of the year at Newmarket in July, challenged widest of the pack, away from the “golden highway” near the stands’ rail which seemed to benefit several runners over the first two days of the meeting. 

RaceiQ awarded Distant Storm a Time Index of 6.8, when the meeting average was 5.6, assessing that he was 0.85sec quicker than par. It was the best time of the day and we can upgrade that, too, given the tempo for the first five furlongs was nothing out of the ordinary. 

Overall, his winning time of 1min 24.15sec does not stand out from the crowd. There have been eight quicker winners of the Tattersalls Stakes this century, but keep in mind most were racing on quicker terrain and carrying a bit less weight. 

That octet included another Charlie Appleby inmate, Modern Games, who went into the 2021 edition with an official handicap rating of 101 (Distant Storm was on 100 beforehand) after four previous outings. He went on to establish himself as a top-class miler, winning the French 2000 Guineas and Breeders’ Cup Mile the following season. He was surplus to requirements in the English Guineas, when the yard had the first two home in Coroebus and Native Trail. 

Distant Storm is a best-priced 12-1 for the 2000 Guineas but I’d have him much shorter, and perhaps he will be after contesting the Darley Dewhurst Stakes back at Newmarket on Saturday week. Appleby has said he will line up provided he comes out of Thursday’s race without any hiccups and the ground remains decent, and it’s worth remembering he pulled off the Middle Park/Dewhurst double with Shadow Of Light last year, so it’s not exactly alien territory for him. 

Regarding the ground, it got quicker and quicker over the three days of the Cambridgeshire Meeting. The Going Stick reading was 7 on Thursday (a mixture of good and good to firm); then 7.5 on Friday; and then 7.9 first thing on Saturday before drying out further under sunny skies. 

Distant Storm is a best-priced 4-1 for the Dewhurst, a race Appleby has scooped with Pinatubo (2019), Native Trail (2021) and Shadow Of Light (2024) in recent years. The National Stakes one-two, Zavateriand Gstaad, preferred to him in the market at 3-1. 

If those three alone turn up, then we are in for some race, one that will no doubt determine who is going to be this year’s champion juvenile. 

One niggle for some will be that Distant Storm dazzled at the Breeze-Ups much earlier in the year, prompting Godolphin to part with 1.9 million euros to acquire his services. Is he just a precocious two-year-old bullying less mature models, or is he the real deal? My best guess would be the latter because Night Of Thunder’s stock usually just keep getting better, while both Appleby and Buick view him more as a three-year-old, rather than just a horse for the here and now. 

Arabian Leopard did well to claw back the consistent (and 2lb well-in) Lady Roxby in the 6f fillies’ handicap at Newmarket on Thursday. Last of the 11 runners at the halfway stage, she was the only runner to dip under 11 seconds in the penultimate furlong before a “very fast” 11.65sec final furlong sealed the deal. The Time Index was a solid 6.6, with the winning time being 0.52sec quicker than par. 

Arabian Leopard won over 7f at Newmarket in May, and this is not the first time that her data has indicated returning to that trip will show her in an even better light. 

She’s a long strider with her average strides-per-second in the contest being lowest of all the runners. That suggests she’s always likely to be well served by galloping, straight tracks such as Newmarket. 

The BOYLE Sports Home Of Early Payout Rockfel Stakes was a tale of two halves. Zanthos going fast in the first half, and then Zanthos going slow in the second half, with her supporters screaming for the final whistle with her lead being eroded. 

Oisin Murphy quickly pointed her to the stands’ rail and she led after the opening furlong before going through the second furlong in just 11.07 sec and the third in 11.12sec. By way of comparison, she was an eyebrow-raising three seconds quicker at this early point than Enoch, the colt who won the maiden over the same trip later in the afternoon for the Gosdens carrying the same weight. 

Zanthos’s early pace enabled her to open up an 0.88sec advantage over the eventual second, The Prettiest Star, and it was to prove crucial. By the finish, she was just 0.08sec ahead. 

The bookmakers were left a bit puzzled by the Betfred 1000 Guineas claims of the winner, quoting her at between 16-1 and 25-1 to claim Classic glory for Simon and Ed Crisford. 

This is a fast filly, though, and the Commonwealth Cup may offer her the best chance of winning a Group One race in the first half of 2026, for all that we have only seen her over 7f this year. 

She had previously pulled away her chance in the Leicester and looks cut from the same cloth as her sire,   

Sioux Nation, the 2017 Norfolk winner who was all about speed and never raced beyond 6f. Unibet make Zanthos 20-1 for the Commonwealth Cup, although Wise Approach makes more appeal for the race, even at half those odds. 

The Prettiest Star is 25-1 for the 1000 Guineas but looks a much better prospect for the race than the winner. 

The Ed Walker-trained Starman filly – described a s a “big girl” by his trainer - probably did not learn much when winning easily on her Nottingham debut and tended to over-race a little early on here, but that did stop her coming home strongly, being fastest of all in furlongs five and seven. 

She was the only runner not to go into the “slow zone” in the final furlong, with her 12.59sec finish hinting a mile could be within her range with another winter on her back. 

It is surely a question of when, not if, Billy Loughnane becomes a champion jockey. The runaway apprentice champion in 2023 is absolutely mustard and was brilliant in winning the 12-furlong Princess Royal Stakes (Sponsored By BOYLE Sports) on Friday aboard Silent Love. 

Loughnane went fastish in the first two furlongs to get to the head of affairs but then slammed on the brakes for the next six furlongs. That meant he was in prime position when the dash for the line started in the final half mile and his willing partner was not for stopping. 

The RaceiQ sectionals were a sea of green for the final furlongs, with all the runners managing a Finishing Speed Percentage of about 106% or higher. All the runners were at their fastest furlongs in furlongs ten and 11.

Those held up had little hope the way things unfolded, so mark up the effort of Karmology, who kept on for second, and put a line through the runs of such as Spirited Style, the favourite, and Little Dorrit. I was sweet on the latter after her fine run in an end-to-end handicap at Doncaster but this test, on quicker ground, was no use to her.