Juvenile Watch: Is stamina of No Nay Never progeny a niggle?

Click here to read Ross's previous columns this year.

When trying to be successful as a punter it pays to pay attention to what is being said, and sometimes what is not being said!

Maybe I’m finding something that isn’t there but I thought it was noteworthy that in an interview on Racing TV, Aidan O’Brien, when discussing the beaten Aesop’s Fables and Meditate - both by No Nay Never - referenced a number of times that they had inherited plenty of speed from their sire but that the soft ground had exposed stamina limitations.

Was this his way of telling his Coolmore bosses that he doesn’t believe No Nay Never can deliver Classic-winning stock?

To negatively critique your players is a move more akin with a disgruntled Premier League manager than it is with O’Brien, who always conducts himself impeccably, so I might well be barking up the wrong tree.

Let’s hope Little Big Bear can debunk the theory next May.

No prizes for guessing this one. Tahiyra looked to be a filly of unlimited potential as she breezed to victory in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at The Curragh on Sunday.

She travelled impeccably with far more composure than you could reasonably expect from a filly having only her second start.

For me, the most impressive facet of her performance was her ability to quicken twice on the deep ground. Firstly, as Ryan Moore attempted to shoot clear on Meditate approaching the furlong pole, Chris Hayes merely had to switch his hand to find a gear change, then when he asked her to go and win the race the response was immediate and spectacular.

As a daughter of Siyouni, she most certainly will have appreciated the ground more than the runner-up, Meditate, possibly did, but the pair pulled a long way clear of the field and it would be wildly speculative to suggest that placings would be reversed on better ground.

Tahiyra is by some distance the standout filly this season and deserves her place at the head of the market for next year’s Qipco 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Meditate ran another good race, with the soft ground coupled and seven-furlong trip stretching her stamina. I’d be surprised if she wasn’t dropped back in trip for her next start.

I don’t want to be getting involved with Saturday’s Mill Reef until final declarations are revealed on Thursday morning.

Richard Hannon is responsible for the top two in the market in Shouldvebeenaring and Persian Force. The former arrives on a rapidly upward trajectory as a winner of his past three starts, including a valuable sales contest as well as most recently winning a Listed contest at Ripon.

After his first start, I advised him as a “winner in waiting” but I didn’t envisage him reaching this level. I can’t help but feel that it would be a poor Group Two if he was good enough to win.

By contrast, Persian Force has proved himself to be a bona fide Group Two performer courtesy of his win in the July Stakes, but I felt he laboured that day and he hasn’t impressed in two subsequent starts.

He looks to be crying out for 7f, so maybe soft ground will bring his stamina into play. On good ground I fear he may just lack a gear.

Sakheer was impressive last time when gaining a wide-margin win at Haydock but the bare form doesn’t amount to much with the third placed Kitbag rated just 77. He’s promising but will need to step forward again.

It’s yet another potential Hannon runner that interests me the most.

Wallop lacks experience with just the one start to his name. However, that debut was full of promise as he finished a close up third behind Noble Style, who has since boosted the form by winning the Gimcrack in impressive fashion.

The runner-up, Mill Stream, was only fourth on his next start but ran better than the result suggests as he failed to stay the 7f trip in the Acomb, having looked the most likely winner a furlong from home.

It would be a good effort to shed your maiden tag in a Group Two but this doesn’t look a vintage renewal and he might just be the class act in the field.

Kohana Breeze (Archie Watson)

This daughter of Sioux Nation travelled well at Epsom last Thursday. At first glance, I thought she looked to get outpaced approaching the two-furlong pole.

After a second viewing it became apparent that while she did indeed get outpaced it came under less than vigorous handling from the normally strong Georia Dobbie.

Whether that was as a consequence of connections having one eye on the future, or whether Kohana Breeze didn’t handle the unique topography of Epsom, I couldn’t be sure, but I am sure that she most certainly could have been a lot closer with a more forceful ride.

She will enter nurseries off a mark of 68 and her trainer is a master at placing his horses, so it will be no surprise if she takes her form to a new level now with handicaps an option. She stays seven furlongs well and shapes as though a mile will be within her range.