Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes
 QuinnBet
Group 3, Newbury 14:40
£90,000 guaranteed,
3yo only,
7f, Class 1   
Saturday 20th April 2024

SureWIn

1 Esquire 16/1
2 El Bodon 28/1
3 Zoum Zoum 7/2F
11 ran Distances: 1¼l, dht, hd
Time: 1m 25.17s (slow by 2.37s)

Esquire, trained by David O’Meara and ridden by Danny Tudhope, delivered a professional performance to secure victory at Newbury.

Despite this impressive win, connections of City Of Troy, the hot favorite for the 2000 Guineas, need not lose any sleep over the result, as the gelding is ineligible to compete in the Classics.

Tudhope made a decisive move, sending the 16-1 winner forward two furlongs from home. Esquire quickly established a comfortable lead. El Bodon, Zoum Zoum, Son, and Alaskan Gold all fought hard to close the gap, resulting in a tightly contested finish for the minor placings.

In the end, Tudhope expertly guided Esquire along the rail, maintaining the pace to secure victory by a length and a quarter. El Bodon and Zoum Zoum finished closely behind, with the judge unable to separate them for second place

O’Meara said of the Cheveley Park Stud-owned winner: “I wasn’t sure he would stay the seven (furlongs) today and I wouldn’t be certain he would get the seven at Ascot (Jersey Stakes) either, but today has opened the option of seven. 

“We thought we would give it a whirl and if he didn’t stay we would come back to six, but he saw it out well today so I will speak to Chris (Richardson) and Mrs (Patricia) Thompson and see what they want to do now. 

“He obviously isn’t in the Guineas because he’s a gelding, but there’s always lots of nice races for a nice horse. 

“We loved him before he won his maiden which was only at Hamilton and then he finished second in a Listed race at York, but he disappointed at Doncaster on heavy ground at the end of last season. I thought he could come here today and maybe finish fourth or fifth, but I wasn’t sure he would win.”

Of El Bodon, Jane Chapple-Hyam said: “We are very pleased with how he performed and we will see how we get on with him, but at this stage he wouldn’t be a Guineas contender. 

“He’s one who will improve as the season goes on and we will see how he comes out of this race. But I can’t see us going for the Guineas as he showed some speed there.”

Zoum Zoum is trained by Ralph Beckett, who said: “It was a good effort, he got pushed around and didn’t quite get his own way but it was a good effort nonetheless.

“We will aim for the Jersey and we might end up dropping back to six furlongs with him at some point. I think he will be suited by six furlongs once he’s learned his job, he’s a slow learner as you can see there. But it was a good effort and we will keep going.”

Greenham Stakes
£90,000 guaranteed, 3yo only, 7f, Class 1
11 ran
Going: Good to Soft, Good in places

POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (7)    Esquire 3 9-2 David O'Meara Daniel Tudhope 16/1
2 (2) 1¼ El Bodon 3 9-2 Jane Chapple-Hyam Tom Marquand 28/1
3 (3) dht Zoum Zoum 155 D 3 9-2 Ralph Beckett 63 Rob Hornby 7/2F
4 (1) hd Son 3 9-2 Richard Hannon Pat Dobbs 9/2
5 (4) shd Alaskan Gold 3 9-2 K R Burke Oisin Murphy 12/1
6 (10) 1½ Mister Sketch 3 9-2 Eve Johnson Houghton William Buick 8/1
7 (6) 1½ Room Service 3 9-2 Kevin Ryan Tom Eaves 6/1
8 (8) 3¾ Army Ethos 3 9-2 Archie Watson Hollie Doyle 14/1
9 (5) nk James's Delight 3 9-2 Clive Cox Richard Kingscote 11/1
10 (9) 4 Watch My Tracer 3 9-2 George Scott Callum Shepherd 14/1
11 (11) 2½ Ballymount Boy 3 9-2 Adrian Paul Keatley James Doyle 7/1

Odds catcher