Royal Ascot preview: George Boughey on his team
In only his second full season as a trainer, George Boughey has surpassed all expectations and is already approaching 50 winners in 2021. Air To Air, who is owned by George’s father James, brought up his 44th winner of the year at Doncaster on Saturday, the day after he had a red-letter day at Epsom.
Oscula, a 4,000gns purchase, won the opening race of the Cazoo Derby Festival at Epsom for Boughey before Mystery Angel, also owned by Nick Bradley Racing, chased home Snowfall to finish 2nd in the Cazoo Oaks at 50/1.
Royal Ascot team
Lostwithiel – Ascot Stakes or Copper Horse
Lostwithiel has been given two entries on Tuesday. Both the Ascot Stakes and the Copper Horse are options for him. He is rated 96 and so would be near the top of the weights in the Ascot Stakes. He is by Camelot out of a mare who has had horses that have stayed a good bit further than he has been running over so we think he will stay. Hollie Doyle has been doing a lot of work with him at home and she will take the ride. He’s a lovely horse with a big future. At this stage, I’d be probably leaning towards the Ascot Stakes.
Superior Force – Windsor Castle Stakes
Superior Force is quite a lazy horse at home and his work has tended to be good without being flashy. He was a good maiden winner on debut but got caught in a bit of a pocket at Newmarket on his second start under a penalty. The front two that day put seven lengths between the rest of the field, and I think if we ran the race again, we’d look to go forward rather than holding him up. He will head to the Windsor Castle and he will stay the stiff five-furlongs at Ascot very well. He’s a horse that could easily have been two from two and he goes there with a live chance.
Apricot Moon – Kensington Palace
Apricot Moon was bought at the Mares Sale by Sam Haggas for Clipper Logistics. She is a lovely filly who won her maiden at Dundalk and went straight into the Irish 1000 Guineas where she finished a very respectable 7th and was only beaten a handful of lengths. She was tried at the highest grade throughout last year, but things didn’t go her way. On her first start for us, we used the Nottinghamshire Oaks as a stepping stone for the Buckingham Palace. The return to a mile will suit her and physically, she seems to have come a long way since that run and has been working well.
Pholas – Kensington Palace or Buckingham Palace
Pholas is a filly who it hasn’t quite fallen for since her win on All Weather Finals’ day at Lingfield. She only got beat two lengths in a Listed race at Goodwood in a slowly run race. At Ayr, she never got into the race but stayed on over a trip that is too far for her. At Epsom on Derby day, the tacky ground didn’t suit her at all. She has always been a filly that works well on fast ground and I hope a fast pace on the straight course at Ascot will suit her.
Thunder Love and Beautiful Sunshine – Queen Mary Stakes
Thunder Love was impressive on both her starts at Kempton. We were planning on running her in the Marygate but the ground went against her. Rossa (Ryan) believes she will be best on a quick surface and the Queen Mary is a possibility, but we are likely to run Beautiful Sunshine there. They are both owned by Amo Racing so we will probably only run one. Beautiful Sunshine was very impressive at Sandown under a penalty and they are two very exciting fillies.
Navello – Norfolk Stakes
The plan before the National Stakes at Sandown was the Norfolk Stakes and we’ve not changed our minds since his third there. The ground that evening at Sandown was pretty slow and Hugo Palmer’s horse (Ebro River) was very impressive. We worked him this morning on fast ground and his work was good. He hardly picks his feet up off the ground which suggests a quick ground action. I think we might see a different horse in the Norfolk to the one we saw at Sandown.
Air To Air – Britannia Handicap
Air To Air was an impressive winner at Doncaster last Saturday under Jamie Spencer. The Britannia has been a long-term target for him, but we had a couple of hiccups along the way and he was gelded after his first start this season at Newcastle where we thought he’d win. That seems to have been the making of him and he’s grown up physically and mentally since then. Jamie Spencer was pretty high on him after winning on him on Saturday and will hopefully be riding him at Ascot.
Dad said I could buy one horse for him to be involved with and Air To Air was that horse. His breeder Lady Cobham stayed in for a part of him. It’s pretty special to have a runner for Dad at Royal Ascot and it should be a fun day!
Cachet – Albany Stakes
Cachet will head to the Albany. She was an impressive winner of a Maiden at Newmarket in May. We bought her from the Tattersalls Breeze Ups where she was consigned by John Bourke of Hyde Park Stud, which is where we also bought Mystery Angel from. Her work was very good before her debut against older horses and so her winning wasn’t a massive surprise. I think I’d have been lying if we thought she’d win in the fashion she did, however!
She worked very nicely this morning with Beautiful Sunshine who is a filly that heads to the Queen Mary Stakes. She’s out of a Teofilo mare and by Aclaim which would suggest she’ll get a bit further in time. The fact we worked her over five-furlong shows that she has got plenty of speed at home. She looks like a miler and I think that will probably be where her future lies, at least in her three-year-old career.
Nicola Currie will keep the ride on her. Nicola has done a lot of work with her and is an ever-increasing member of the team. She comes in two or three times a week from Lambourn which shows the hard yards she puts in and she certainly deserves the ride.
Oscula – Albany Stakes
Oscula won the Woodcote Stakes at Epsom last Friday. She will likely head to the Albany as well. She has been a very straightforward filly to train. She is by Galileo Gold who has made a great start as a stallion.
I’ve never worked her with Cachet, but they are pretty similar fillies. They are both in the top 3 or 4 in the market for the Albany which is very exciting.
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