Juvenile Watch: A Norfolk contender and Cox newcomer to note

When highlighting Kessaar’s first runner as a sire, Tajalla, in last week’s column, I was confident of a strong performance.

However, I certainly wasn’t expecting Roger Varian-trained youngster to deliver quite such a taking performance at Newmarket.

He was thoroughly professional in every element of the race. He broke smartly and settled well stalking the leaders before challenging two furlongs out and quickening up smartly under just hands and heels riding from Andrea Atzeni.

Everything was achieved with the minimum of fuss and, at the line, he had almost three lengths to spare over Fragrance, with the well-fancied Cheeky Maxi back in third.

Tajalla galloped a fair way past the winning post before pulling up, suggesting that he has the potential to stretch further in trip. However, given the speed he showed – clock watchers reported the time to be well above average – I would be most interested to see him remain at the minimum trip as befitting his speedy pedigree.

The Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot, over a stiff 5f, could prove to be the perfect target. Unibet quote him at 7-1.

While he’s bound to have been ready for his debut, I would still expect plenty of improvement to be forthcoming given that Varian’s ethos would be to train his horses to improve with racing.

The sloping track at Beverley has caused plenty of two-year olds to under-perform over the years and last Wednesday the well-backed Brave Emperor, trained by Archie Watson, added his name to the list.

He was drawn nicely in stall one but didn’t jump at all well. The race report then details that he stumbled after half-a-furlong but to my eye it looked like he spooked at a rail and slipped, resulting in him temporarily losing his action.

By that stage, all hopes of a winning debut had evaporated. His jockey, Adam McNamara, gave him time to get re-organised and connections will have been heartened to see him put in some good late work, as he stayed on into a never-nearer sixth.

His sire, Sioux Nation, was a high-class two-year old, winning the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot over 5f and the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh over 6f, and many shrewd judges believe he has the potential to be this season’s leading first season sire.

Brave Emperor’s dam was unable to trouble the judge in four starts but is a half-sister to the Group One-placed Salouen, who was a winner as a two-year old.

Watson is a notable trainer of juveniles, so the fact Brave Emperor was strong in the market would suggest he had shown a degree of ability at home. With this experience behind him, he is well capable of winning next time, especially on a more conventional track.

You can add Brave Emperor to your Racing TV Tracker by clicking here.

Trainers are creatures of habit, often following the same race programme for horses year on year.

They also often seek to purchase progeny from families they’ve done well with. If they train a colt good enough to go on to have a stallion career, then it’s only natural that they will take great interest in their offspring at the yearling sales.

Harry Angel developed into a top-class sprinter under the careful guidance of Clive Cox, retiring as a two-time Group One winner courtesy of his victories in the July Cup and the Sprint Cup.

Given the success they had together, it’s no surprise that Cox has a number of Harry Angel offspring in his care, and I’m sure he’d be keen to train that all important first winner for him.

Many expected the Cox-trained Redemption Time to be the first of Harry Angel’s stock to oblige at Newbury on Saturday but the well-backed 10-11 favourite showed signs of greenness and had to settle for third.

His is likely to be winning soon but, by the time he does, Harry Angel may already be off the mark via the Cox-trained Al Dasim, who is entered at Leicester on Saturday.

His dam, Dance Hall Girl, was runner-up on all three of her starts as a two-year old and finished her first season rated a respectable 82 before managing a win as a three-year old.

It’s as a broodmare where she has thrived, with all bar one of her seven foals to have hit the track having won. And all of them have done so as two-year olds.

This shows that the family is more than capable of producing the early winner that a first-season stallion needs to kick-start their career. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the the final declarations on Thursday, and will be then watching for market support on Saturday.

You can add Al Dasim to your Racing TV Tracker by clicking here.