Review of Monday's meeting at Newcastle as racing returned at Gosforth Park

Frankly fantastic...

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Frankly Darling (10/11 favourite) could be another star for John Gosden to have scored at Newcastle as she stormed clear in the first division of the Betway Maiden Stakes.

The daughter of Frankel looked a class apart under Robert Havlin and was arguably more impressive than superstars Enable and Stradivarius, who both won on the Tapeta for Gosden in the early part of their careers.

Havlin said: "She's still pretty green. I stuck three wide, I was going to drop in but the one on my inside was struggling a bit so I decided to keep it nice and smooth for her.

"Turning in I was fairly confident, she'd organised herself by then. I always felt she was going to put the race to bed. She saw the mile and a quarter out well, she's by no means a slow filly but I think she can see the mile and a half out no problem.

"She's filling into her frame nicely and she's going the right way."

Selected for the Investec Oaks by Matt Brocklebank at 66/1 in his Antepost Angle column, so impressive was the filly that she is as low as 10/1.

Sky Bet went 16s from 25/1 for the Classic with Betfair and Paddy Power 20/1 from the same price.

Murphy off the mark

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Champion jockey and Sporting Life columnist Oisin Murphy rode his first winner of the season as Alignac (5/2 joint-favourite) ran out a cosy winner of the Betway Handicap.

In a dramatic race, he made stealthy headway down the home straight aboard Sir Michael Stoute's charge but struggled to find daylight as market rival Good Tidings went for home over a furlong out.

However once it arrived the son of Sea The Moon picked up nicely to score by three-quarters-of-a-length. Anythingfortoday (25/1) was back in third.

But it was a race that saw two fallers in the straight, with PJ McDonald’s mount December Second bringing down the Jim Crowley-ridden Financial Conduct.

Both jockeys were reported to have escaped serious injury, but Crowley was replaced by Murphy aboard Thibaan in division one of the Betway Maiden Stakes.

A visibly upset Phil Kirby, trainer of December Second, said: "He's gone, I'm afraid."

Steely success

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Valyrian Steel (3/1) won division two of the maiden, edging to a neck victory over Wise Glory.

The $600,000 yearling, another son of Frankel, really got the hand of things late on and, aided by being closer to the rail than his rival, scored with a little up his sleeve.

Queen crowned at Newcastle

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Les Eyre’s Queen Of Kalahari (10/1) was a rapid improver last season, winning four of her last five starts, and she picked up where she left off with a game display in the #betyourway At Betway Handicap.

Lewis Edmunds attempted to make all and while she looked like being swallowed up, she found plenty for pressure to beat Tomshalfbrother in a photo.

“She’s so genuine. I was always happy where I was and she’s so genuine,” said Edmunds.

“She has such a high cruising speed, considering she was dropping back a furlong there, she was always travelling. It’s hard to say how much further she can go, whenever she’s gone up in class she’s found a bit more.”

Ryan off the mark in style

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The domination of the northern yards continued as Kevin Ryan’s Oakenshield beat stablemate Barbarella in the Betway Casino Handicap.

Ryan took advantage of the change to the handicapping system with the twice-raced three-year-old, who won cosily at 11/2 under Andrea Atzeni.

“It’s great to kick off with a winner especially for the boss, Sheikh Obaid, who has had to be patient the past couple of months,” said Atzeni.

“It was pretty straightforward, he jumped and travelled like a typical one of Kevin’s, he was very ready. The track is riding slow, probably because of the weather, it’s hard work but fair.

“It’s not too bad in the mask, but it was my first ride for two months and it’s very warm. It’s what we’ve got to do, though, and we’ll get used to it.”

Snail edges thriller

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Richard Fahey’s Brian The Snail (13/2) won the Heed Your Hunch At Betway Handicap by the narrowest of margins from Yousini.

A promising sort as a youngster, he was bought by Godolphin having won both starts at two but has failed to reach the expected heights.

Tony Hamilton was on board and he said: “He’s a horse with a lot of ability, but he only ever does it every now and again.

“His work at home is better than what he shows in the afternoon, but when he puts his best foot forward he’s a nice horse.

“Riding in the mask is not that nice, but we all know we’ve got to do it so we’ll do it as long as we have to.”

Power heading to Royal Ascot

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Art Power (5/4 favourite) looked impressive when winning on his second start at York last season and defied a penalty in fine style in the second division.

Tim Easterby’s grey bounced out of the stalls for Silvestre de Sousa and never saw a rival, justifying connections’ faith having given him a Commonwealth Cup entry at Royal Ascot.

The way he quickened up for a little nudge from De Sousa suggests he is well above average and he came home five and a half lengths clear.

“He’s a nice horse and Tim thinks a lot of him. He’s got some classy entries, but he had to prove he could do it,” said De Sousa.

“He had a big weight today. Mentally he’s not there yet, he’s still a big baby, going into the gate he didn’t know who he was and on pulling up he was waiting for the others. There’s a lot of improvement in him. He’s a fast horse, and coming back to five (furlongs) would be no problem.”

Betfair introduced Art Power into the betting for the Commonwealth Cup at 25/1.

Drama at start as Edraak shines

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Starting procedures are one of the areas being monitored, with only two handlers allowed to push per horse to help social distancing and the starter likely to be less patient with horses that prove troublesome.

That was in evidence in the third race on the card, the first division of the Betway Novice Stakes, as unraced favourite Freedom Flyer was reluctant to enter the stalls, in turn leading to Ejtilaab becoming fractious.

In the end the race went off without that pair and ultimately produced a most impressive winner, as the Mick Appleby-trained Edraak (16/1) rocketed clear when asked by Alistair Rawlinson.

Rawlinson said: “He’d been doing everything well at home. The last piece he did at home we didn’t go that strong, but he quickened up very nicely.

“He was all at sea early, but once I picked him up he’s gone and done it nicely. When we pulled up PJ (McDonald, on Blazing Hot) was happy with how his ran and believes ours will be nice.

“He picked up with every stride when the penny finally dropped, but we won’t know how strong the race was given what happened in the stalls.”

He added: “He was sharp enough away for his second run and put the race to bed. Whatever he did today was a stepping stone – he’ll definitely improve stepped up in trip as well.”

Appleby is currently isolating having been to Sweden for a race meeting there.

Ellison strikes with Little Jo

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Little Jo just got the better of a sustained battle with Saisons D'or to win the Betway Heed Your Hunch Handicap.

As in the opener few got into this from off the pace and the 33/1 runner-up made a bold bid to make all for Jedd O'Keeffe and Jack Garrity.

He was joined at the furlong pole by the eventual winner who only shook him off in the final strides to win by a neck under Ben Robinson for trainer Brian Ellison.

The pair were clear of Defence Treaty (33/1) in third with the odds-on favourite Mutasaamy a disappointment having travelled strongly until just after halfway.

Robinson said: “He was a bit disappointing before lockdown, but we found a few niggly problems and Brian has done a great job at home and he came back with a bang.

“Mr (Jedd) O’Keeffe’s horses are always ready and race-fit and to be honest I probably got there too soon, but Jack (Garrity) was just helping me along on his horse (Saisons D’Or).

“The track is riding very slow. The sun beating down on it softens it up and makes it testing and gluey, it suited Little Jo anyway.”

Fell dominates the opener

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Roger Fell saddled a one-two in the opening Betway Welcome Back British Racing Handicap, with Zodiakos (22/1) getting the better of a prolonged duel with Al Ozzdi (4/1).

The eventual runner-up looked to have the prize in safe keeping when forging ahead at the furlong pole but the James Sullivan-ridden winner was in no mood to throw in the towel, rallying strongly to regain the initiative in the final 50 yards.

A neck separated the pair at the line and they were five lengths clear of The Big House (18/1) in third.

North Yorkshire-based Fell said: “My instructions were to make it, to get on with it because he has one pace and he did that perfectly.

“It (lockdown) has not been bad for us as we’re quite isolated, we’re not round lots of other people. A lot of the staff live on site so it’s quite easy.”

Sullivan said: “It’s very nice to get the first winner. I’m blowing a bit as obviously it’s the first time I’ve ridden in a race for a while and it was hard work from three and a half (furlongs) out, but in fairness to Roger, he had him very fit, he was spot on for today.

“I think his ability to handle heavy ground helped him. The track is riding very deep today and it helped at the end as he outstayed the other horse.

“Al Ozzdi got by me, but in the last 100 yards his stamina kicked in. I’m blowing a bit, but hopefully that will have blown away the cobwebs.

“In this heat today, riding in the mask, it is very warm and after pulling up I pulled it down a little just to get a few breaths in. It wasn’t too bad, though, it’s manageable and it’s the sort of thing that in a week you won’t even notice it.”

Bookmaker view on racing's return...

Michael Shinners of Sky Bet: "It’s been great to have some domestic racing from Newcastle. However, finding winners certainly wasn’t easy with a number of double figure priced horses taking the spoils. One favourite who was impressive was Tim Easterby’s Art Power who demolished his opposition in taking style and is now 20/1 for the Commonwealth Cup at Ascot in a couple of weeks."

Paul Binfield Paddy Power: "It’s great to see our magnificent sport, which was attended by over five million people last year and enjoyed at home by millions more, back and, most importantly, being conducted under strict safety guidelines. The return coincidentally meant a clash with two French classics and turnover was ‘brisk’ – to put it in perspective equating to an excellent Bank Holiday Monday, but not an average Saturday live on ITV."

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