Juvenile Watch: a Thursday fancy, National hero and horses to follow

This Richard Fahey-trained daughter of Dark Angel caught my eye when making her debut at Thirsk two weeks ago.

Having jumped smartly she was taken back by Oisin Orr and was settled off the pace. As the pace quickened it took a while for the penny to drop before she made good late progress under a considerate ride.

Given the amount of ground she surrendered it was a debut full of promise. With that run behind her she can land this moderate contest for a trainer whose past three winners have all been two-year olds.

As with last week, this was another obvious decision. The National Stakes at Sandown last Thursday looked like being a fiercely competitive. Seven of the ten runners arrived as winners of their only starts with the other three all seemingly having taken a giant step forward from their debuts.

However, it was a race that only concerned one colt. In the run-up to Sandown trainer Karl Burke was quoted as saying that Elite Status had been far from fully tuned up when making his debut at Doncaster and would be a much-improved animal on his second start. How right he was.

The sizeable son of Havana Grey - who won this race in 2017 for the same trainer - Elite Status jumped smartly from the stalls and was settled nicely by his jockey Clifford Lee in midfield.

When asked for maximum effort the response was instantaneous and impressive as he quickly opened up a clear advantage over his rivals who were left floundering.

I liked how powerfully he finished but even more so how willing and game he was – stretching his neck out in perfect style. How ominous must it have been for rival trainers to hear Burke tell Nick Luck on Racing TV afterwards that he was still not fully wound up at Sandown and that there was yet more in the locker.

He deserves his place at the head of the market for the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot and I certainly wouldn’t be a layer at a best price of 9/4. However, he doesn’t appeal as an ante-post proposition at this stage as there is still just about enough time for an as yet unraced rival to appear. Given how forward he appears to be physically it wouldn’t surprise me if connections give serious consideration to the Nunthorpe later in the season.

As I’ve mentioned in previous columns the Richard Hannon trained juveniles are showing significant improvement on their second starts. That was certainly the case at Haydock last Thursday as The Camden Colt won well on his second start for the yard.

However, Thunder Blue, who chased him home, can be marked down as an unlucky loser. Drawn wide in stall two he was slightly slow into stride meaning jockey Kevin Stott was forced to settle him further back in the field than he would have liked.

He travelled nicely through the middle part of the race but was forced to switch wide before being able to hit top gear. He flew home but was unable to peg back the winner who was perfectly positioned throughout. He should be able to atone for this defeat on his next start.

Moyet looked very green when making his debut at Goodwood on Friday. He took a while to find his rhythm and didn’t look totally at ease on this track as he drifted significantly to his left in the middle part of the race.

He still though showed a good degree of pace and finished his race off well, running into third place. His sire, Blue Point, has made a great start to his stallion career and is an obvious source of speed.

By contrast his dam Rare, a daughter of Galileo was seen to best effect over 12 furlongs and further. From a stoutly bred family it might well be that he’ll be better over further than 6f. With that said I’d expect him to show significant improvement on his next start and he’s one to follow whether that be over 6f or 7f.