All the talk of the race is without doubt going to surround the Frankel debutante Elyaasaat who will probably be well supported. However, the James Tate trained FOUNDING FATHER was subject to a massive gamble on debut and showed enough promise to suggest he can land a maiden of this nature on his second start. The Sir Percy two year old was backed into 5/2 favourite from double figure odds but ran very green and finished a creditable 3rd at Windsor. With improvement expected, he should be able to land this maiden and put his experience to good use.
1 ASTUTE BOY – Well bred colt by Arcano and has a line through Sadler’s Wells too through the dam side. The Ed Vaughan stable is flying currently; 12 winners from his last 42 runners and his sole runners over the past two weeks won at Kempton. The market will be very informative and any money for the horse would be interesting.
2 BLUE ON BLUE – Went off a very well backed 11/10 favourite on debut at Chelmsford but never got into the race, staying on into 4th when the race was wrapped up by Thaaqib. He should have learned plenty from that initial experience and is in superb hands with Frankie Dettori and John Gosden so a big run is expected.
3 CALL ME GRUMPY – Disappointing on first two starts for Roger Varian and could struggle against the likes of Blue On Blue and Founding Father who look sure to improve. Has experience which is always an advantage in these maidens but he was beat 12 lengths at Newcastle last time out and looks opposable overall.
4 ELYAASAAT – Extremely well bred by the mighty Frankel who has had a tremendous strike rate with his debutantes on his first crop. Dane O’Neill takes the mount on the horse who is trained by William Haggas and owned by Sheikh Hamdan. Seven furlongs should be ideal on debut and good ground is forecast so he must enter calculations.
5 FOUNDING FATHER – Looks the most likely winner in the field after an encouraging run on debut when 3rd at Windsor, subject to a monster gamble. He was backed as if defeat was out of the question that day and with improvement bound to come should be a very tough horse to beat.
6 GIOVANNI BATTISTA – By Clodovil and Aloisi and is trained by Brian Meehan who is having a fruitful spell. He is not known for his first time out winners so the conclusion is this horse will need the run. He could be a very interesting proposition on second start as Meehan’s horses are renowned for making rapid improvement from first to second start.
7 LESHLAA – Street Cry colt in the powerful hands of Godolphin and Saeed Bin Suroor. The yard is in good form at present with 5 winners from his last 17 runners and his horses’ are generally very forward on debut as they don’t like to hang about. Certainly looks one of the more likely types on paper in what is a very decent looking maiden.
8 RETRIBUTION – David Lanigan trained two year old colt by Iffraaj. Trainer is another who isn’t renowned for his first time out winners but he is more than capable of readying one and any market confidence would be interesting. However, the overall conclusion is he more than likely has too much on his plate in this hot maiden.
9 SALT WHISTLE BAY – Royal Applause colt trained by Rae Guest and although he is amongst the winners lately, it would be surprising if this horse was up to landing a decent maiden first time out. Like all newcomers, he is worth a market watch and again it would be interesting if money came for him at big prices.