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Picture Editor and Timepiece On Track for Newmarket’s Rowley Mile 28/10/10
Trainer Henry Cecil’s exciting Derby hope Picture Editor heads the cast list for the final meeting of 2010 at Newmarket Racecourses on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th October, when the Rowley Mile stages two days of fantastic racing that traditionally reveal future stars.
Khalid Abdulla’s homebred Dansili colt is on target to contest the £12,000 bet365 Zetland Conditions Stakes (3.45pm) on Saturday, and in so doing will attempt to emulate dual Emirates Airline Champion Stakes (2009 & 2010) hero Twice Over, who landed the prize in 2007 for the owner and Cecil.
St Leger winners Bob’s Return (1992) and Silver Patriarch (1996), as well as the great stayer Double Trigger (1993), each captured the 10-furlong contest en route to Group One glory.
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Other future stars to have competed at the meeting in recent times include Oaks heroines Ouija Board and Sariska, as well as crack miler Paco Boy.
Picture Editor is unbeaten in two starts and is quoted as 12/1 second-favourite for next year’s Investec Derby with Bet365 , behind stablemate Frankel, who is 5/1. The colt cruised to a 30-length victory over the distance at Leicester on 5th October, having defeated Nathaniel by a short-head on debut at Doncaster in September.
Lord Grimthorpe, Khalid Abdulla’s racing manager, revealed today: “Picture Editor is fine, he won a nice maiden at Doncaster and then won uncontested at Leicester. He has come on and he is a promising horse, there is no question about that. Obviously, it is a case of little steps at the moment.
“His dam, Shirley Valentine, won over a mile and half, and there is plenty of stamina in the family.”
Other interesting contenders among the 14 entries are the £500,000 Tattersalls Millions 2YO Trophy runner-up Pisco Sour, Godolphin’s Shooting Gallery and Group Three Solario Stakes runner-up Measuring Time, from the Richard Hannon yard.
Cecil and Abdulla also have a strong candidate in Saturday’s £35,000 Listed bet365 James Seymour Stakes (4.20pm) with Timepiece primed for the 10-furlong contest.
The Zamindar three-year-old landed the Listed Sandringham Handicap over a mile at Royal Ascot in June, and returned from a long summer rest to finish second over the course and distance in the Listed Lanwades Stud Severals Stakes on Champions’ Day.
Lord Grimthorpe commented: “Timepiece was coming off a break so we were quite pleased with her that day. I just think it took a bit of time for her to get into gear. She has been in good form since the race, so hopefully this will put her back on track.
“She won over a mile at Ascot, but that is a good, stiff mile, and it was 10 furlongs last time, so I think she wants a strongly run race.”
Timepiece landed the £25,000 Listed Casino at bet365.com EBF Montrose Fillies’ Stakes (3.10pm) last season and Saturday’s mile contest has attracted an entry of 16 fillies. The race is a proven stepping stone to greater achievements; champion mare Ouija Board was third in the 2003 contest and Timepiece’s Group One-winning half-sister Passage Of Time scored in 2006.
Saturday’s fantastic seven-race card also features the £35,000 Listed bet365 Ben Marshall Stakes (2.35pm) over a mile and kicks off with the seven-furlong bet365 EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes (1.25pm), which was won in 2008 by subsequent dual Oaks winner Sariska.
Friday’s competitive seven-race card features the £23,000 Listed European Breeders’ Fund Bosra Sham Fillies’ Stakes for two-year-olds over six furlongs.
