Juvenile Watch: Ascot bound Breege looks way above average

There have been a few notable performances over the past week. Omniqueen was impressive when winning at Ascot on Friday for David Loughnane and Amo Racing, while on Monday evening, Cathy Come Home created a big impression when scoring at Musselburgh for Karl Burke.

However, the most impressive performance last week came from John Quinn’s filly Breege for owner-breeders Chasemore Farm. She absolutely bolted up on debut in a Wetherby maiden over an extended five furlongs, despite travelling a shade keenly in the early stages. The pace didn’t look that generous in that contest, though, and she was able to move to a challenging position with noticeable ease plus only had to be pushed out under hands and heels by Jason Hart to win by an ever-expanding five and a half lengths.

The runner-up, Commander Straker, was sent off the well-backed, odds-on favourite having shown good form on his debut when runner-up to the smart Holguin at Newbury, the form of which looks strong given that Dunnington Lad – who finished fifth – won on his next start. However, he again came off second best, and by a margin that suggests this performance from Breege was way above average, especially as she was taking on colts, although it was reported that, physically, she more than held her own in the paddock beforehand.

A trip to Ascot is almost certainly on the cards for this daughter of Starspangledbanner, and she most certainly has the pedigree for it as her dam, Wowcha, is a half-sister to The Wow Signal (also by Starspanngledbanner), winner of the 2014 Coventry Stakes.

Given how strongly she saw out the trip, I would be in agreement with her jockey, Jason Hart, who suggested that stepping up to six furlongs for the Albany might suit her better than dropping back to five furlongs in the Queen Mary. Whichever race she lines up for at Royal Ascot, she will merit close consideration.

Trainer: Hugo Palmer.

Glorious Angel is a full-sister to Devious Angel who won four times as a two-year-old for these owner’s last season.

Hugo Palmer’s youngster had no luck in running at Chester last week as she was drawn widest and a bump from the horse on her inside leaving the stalls meant she drifted right in the first few strides. Despite that, she worked hard to get into a challenging position before being carried wider again by Dunnington Lad, who hung badly.

I liked Glorious Angel’s tough and tenacious attitude, though, and she battled all the way to the line. The form of her debut run when third at Nottingham has worked out well, with the runner-up there, Rocket Rodney, winning on his next start.

I’m confident that she is more than capable of winning a similar contest and I will be following her closely.

Trainer: Charlie Hills.

As I’ve already mentioned, Omniqueen was a visually impressive winner at Ascot in a race that might just throw up a few winners, and Ludden Lass was the one that really caught my eye in that contest.

She dived away to her right exiting the stalls and then, when corrected by her jockey, she dived away to her left and displayed plenty of signs of greenness on her debut.

As a result, she found herself a few lengths adrift of the field and had to be switched wide to challenge. She didn’t possess enough turn of foot to get back to the leaders but did keep on nicely under a considerate ride to finish fourth.

With this experience behind her, she can do better next time, particularly if she jumps better from the stalls and can therefore race more prominently in the early stages.

Last season saw Ardad outperform his initial bargain basement stud fee of £6,500 as he supplied 23 winners, including dual Group One winner Perfect Power.

Tasleet was also priced at the lower end of the scale for his debut season at stud, with his fee set at just £6,000. He won three of his six starts as a two-year old and also finished runner up in both the Group Two Richmond Stakes (behind Shalaa) and the Group Three Tattersalls Stakes at Newmarket.

Better was to come as a three-year old as he won both the Group Three Greenham Stakes at Newbury and the Group Two Duke Of York Stakes before finishing his season with two huge efforts when runner-up in both the Sprint Cup, and the British Champions Sprint at Ascot.

He retired to stud in time for the 2019 stud season where his solid record, combined with his smart pedigree – his sire Showcasing has produced countless top-class performers, including Mohaather and Quiet Reflection, while his dam is a sister to the dam of sprint star Baattash – meant he was popular with breeders and covered more than a hundred mares in his first year.

The early signs are good with two winners from four runners in the UK, and another winner in France from just three runners. Both UK winners - Carmela and Omniqueen - are trained by rising star David Loughnane, and both look capable of gaining that all important black-type success. Carmela also holds an entry in the Marygate at York on Friday.

The race to be leading first-season sire for 2022 is still in its infancy, but Tasleet may just be a dark horse for the title.