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Saturday 22 February 2014

@AWChamps Grandeur secures Good Friday place with victory in coral.co.uk Winter Derby Trial



3.30pm £45,000 Listed coral.co.uk Winter Derby Trial 1m 2f (Polytrack)


Grandeur (Jeremy Noseda/Ryan Moore) stamped his class over an excellent field with a comfortable success in the £45,000 Listed coral.co.uk Winter Derby Trial (3.30pm) to guarantee his place in the £200,000 Coral Easter Classic on All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 18.

The 4/5 favourite, a dual Grade Two winner in North America and, making his first appearance since finishing seventh in the Group One Hong Kong Cup in December, raced behind the front-running Anaconda (Tom Dascombe/Richard Kingscote) for much of the 10-furlong Fast-Track Qualifier before moving up to take the lead passing the furlong-pole.

He soon opened up a definite advantage but had to be kept up to his work to beat the fast-finishing Modernstone (William Knight/Andrea Atzeni) by three quarters of a length in 2m 1.17s, with a length and a quarter back to Anaconda in third.

Noseda commented: "Grandeur is a grand horse. He's tough, consistent and you can't ask for anything more than that.

"He hit the front much too early today but Ryan has travelled well and he has kept it simple - Grandeur is never going to be a horse that wins by that far.

"It didn't bother me when he hit the front because he is a good enough horse to hold on against that level of competition.

"The plan coming into today was to make sure we qualified for the £200,000 race on Good Friday and we will discuss about coming back for the Winter Derby on March 22.

"He has the option of going to Dubai for the Sheema Classic and I'll have a chat with (owner) Yvonne (Jacques) and decide. Personally, I would come here for the Winter Derby because I think that he would go into the race and the Good Friday race with a favourite's chance.

"I think that we will campaign him domestically until Good Friday and then, if things are going well at that stage, will decide with Yvonne but I think he could take a trip back to America or go to Singapore.

"We have options with him and I think that we are going to place him in the races where he has the best chance of getting good money.

"Sadly, that means we would be better avoiding places like Royal Ascot and going to race for big money abroad. We would be happy enough to do that."

Moore, celebrating a double on the day. said: "The race worked out nicely for Grandeur. They went a nice, even pace and he travelled very well.

"I was out a bit earlier than I would have ideally liked but there wasn't a lot of choice and he did what he had to do.

"I think that he is certainly good enough to go into the Winter Derby as the one they all have to beat."

Noseda is set to be doubly represented on All-Weather Championships Finals Day with Valbchek, who secured his berth in the £150,000 bookmakers.co.uk Sprint Stakes with Fast-Track Qualifier victory in the Listed Best Odds At bookmakers.co.uk Golden Rose Stakes on November 16.

The Newmarket trainer continued: "Valbchek will be coming back for Good Friday. He got little setback out in Dubai, so we brought him home and now we are getting him ready for the Sprint Final. He will go straight there.

"Hopefully, we will be coming back to Lingfield on Good Friday with two very solid chances. It's a big day with fabulous prize money and you cannot ask for any more than that."

2.50pm £45,000 Ladbrokes Handicap 7f (Polytrack)

Grey Mirage (Marco Botti/Ryan Moore) is also set to return to Lingfield Park for All-Weather Championships Finals Day after breaking the course record with a swooping win in the seven-furlong Ladbrokes Handicap (2.50pm).

The five-year-old, sent off the 2/1 favourite, broke slowly but flew home in the straight to beat George Guru (Michael Attwater/Robert Havlin) by three quarters of a length in a 1m 21.92s.

He is due to step back up to a mile for All-Weather Championships Finals Day, having already gained his place in the £150,000 ladbrokes.co.uk Mile Stakes by taking the Ladbrokes Conditions Stakes, a Fast-Track Qualifier, at Lingfield Park on January 11.

Botti commented: "Grey Mirage tries hard and loves the All-Weather. He half-missed the break when the stalls opened and it was a great ride from Ryan, who sat, waited for the gap and the horse finished the race well. It is probably one of the best performances of the horse's career.

"He showed a good turn of foot today and I think it was just the way the race panned out. He has always been ridden quite handy but I think that he could be ridden this way in the mile race on Good Friday.

"Ryan said that he wouldn't be worried about the horse going back to a mile again. He won over a mile last time but was fading a little bit in the last furlong, whereas today he has finished the race very well."

Moore added: "Grey Mirage was a nice spare ride and he won very well. He was a bit slowly away but he really quickened well and it was a very good performance."

Horses qualify for the six championships contests on £1-million All-Weather Championships Finals Day (Good Friday, April 18, 2014) by running in a minimum of three races at Britain's All-Weather tracks - three owned by ARC, Lingfield Park, Southwell and Wolverhampton, and The Jockey Club's Kempton Park - between October 26 and April 12 or else by succeeding in one of the 16 Fast-Track Qualifiers.

1.45pm £45,000 Listed Compare Bookmakers At bookmakers.co.uk Cleves Stakes 6f (Polytrack)

Tarooq Takes Thrilling £45,000 Six-Furlong Fast-Track Qualifier

There was a thrilling finish to the opening £45,000 Listed Compare Bookmakers At bookmakers.co.uk Cleves Stakes over six furlongs, a Fast-Track qualifier for the £150,000 bookmakers.co.uk All-Weather Sprint on All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 18.

The David Barron-trained Tarooq 5/1 co-favourite), brought through on the inside to challenge by Graham Gibbons, swooped to get the better of Danny Tudhope-ridden Rivellino (7/1) from Karl Burke's stables by a head in the last strides with the fast-finishing Hoof It (5/1 co-favourite, ridden by Jamie Spencer & trained by Mick Easterby) who made his run on the outside of the 12-strong field, the same distance back in third. The two other 5/1 co-favourites were Ladies Are Forever (sixth), prominent for a long way, and Hawkeyethenoo (seventh), who was last turning in and never quite got going.

Tarooq, who broke the six-furlong Polytrack record at Lingfield Park last time out on December 18, came close to his own record with a time of 1m 8.94s, just 0.19s outside the record.

Gibbons said: "Tarooq loves it at Lingfield and he knows his way round. They didn't really go a million miles an hour for the first furlong and then took off up the hill, so I got him at it a bit coming down the hill. We always know that he is going to finish his race.

"They went a million miles an hour when he broke the track record here last time, which teed up the race for him, but they didn't go off quite as hard early on today. Coming on the inside is the shortest way around.

"He is definitely worth his place in the line-up on Finals Day. He is going to be taking on pretty much the same horses and will take a bit of beating."

Horses qualify for the six championships contests on £1-million All-Weather Championships Finals Day (Good Friday, April 18, 2014) by running in a minimum of three races at Britain's All-Weather tracks - three owned by ARC, Lingfield Park, Southwell and Wolverhampton, and The Jockey Club's Kempton Park - between October 26 and April 12 or else by succeeding in one of the 16 Fast-Track Qualifiers.

The winners of the Fast-Track Qualifiers so far:-

1) 31/10/13 Listed 32Red / EBFstallions.com Fleur De Lys Fillies' Stakes, Lingfield Park, Forgive (Richard Hannon/Silvestre de Sousa) achieved a guaranteed place, with free entry, in the £150,000 32Red.com Fillies' & Mares' Stakes, run over seven furlongs, on All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 18, 2014 at Lingfield Park.

2) 16/11/13 Listed coral.co.uk Churchill Stakes, Lingfield Park, Prince Alzain (Gerard Butler/Oisin Murphy) gained a guaranteed place, with free entry, in the £200,000 Coral Easter Classic, run over 10 furlongs, on All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 18, 2014 at Lingfield Park.

3) 16/11/13 Listed Best Odds At bookmakers.co.uk Golden Rose Stakes, Lingfield Park, Valbchek (Jeremy Noseda/Shane Kelly), secured a guaranteed place, with free entry, in the £150,000 bookmakers.co.uk Sprint Stakes, run over six furlongs, on All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 18, 2014 at Lingfield Park.

4) 20/11/2013 Listed Winners Are Welcome At Betdaq EBF Stallions Hyde Stakes, Kempton Park, Sirius Prospect (Dean Ivory/Robert Winston) gained a guaranteed place, with free entry, in the £150,000 ladbrokes.co.uk Mile Stakes on All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 18, 2014 at Lingfield Park.

5) 23/11/2013 32Red Conditions Stakes, Lingfield Park, Complicit (Paul Cole/Graham Lee) won in course record time and secured a guaranteed free place in the £150,000 32Red Three-Year-Old Final over seven furlongs on All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 18, 2014 at Lingfield Park.

6) 11/01/2014 Ladbrokes Conditions Stakes, Lingfield Park, Grey Mirage (Marco Botti/Martin Harley) gained a guaranteed place, with free entry, in the £150,000 ladbrokes.co.uk Mile Stakes on All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 18, 2014 at Lingfield Park

7) 15/01/2014 Winners Are Welcome At Betdaq Conditions Stakes, Kempton Park, Alutiq (Eve Johnson Houghton/Jamie Spencer) secured a guaranteed free place in the £150,000 32Red Three-Year-Old Stakes over seven furlongs on All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 18, 2014 at Lingfield Park.

8) 22/01/2014 32Red Conditions Stakes, Lingfield Park, Arch Villain (Amanda Perrett/Jim Crowley) gained a guaranteed free place in the £150,000 32Red Casino Marathon Stakes over two miles on All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 18, 2014 at Lingfield Park.

9) 22/02/2014 Listed Compare Bookmakers At bookmakers.co.uk Cleves Stakes, Lingfield Park Tarooq (David Barron/Graham Gibbons) secured a guaranteed free place in the £150,000 bookmakers.co.uk All-Weather Sprint on All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 18.

10) 22/02/2014 Listed coral.co.uk Winter Derby Trial, Lingfield Park, Grandeur (Jeremy Noseda/Ryan Moore) secured a guaranteed free place in the £200,000 Coral Easter Classic on All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 18.


Lingfield Park Race Programme All-Weather Championships Finals Day, Good Friday, April 18, 2014

13.45 £50,000 coral.co.uk All-Weather Championships Apprentice Handicap (1m 4f)
14.20 £150,000 32Red.com All-Weather Fillies' & Mares' Championships Conditions Stakes (7f)
14.55 £150,000 32Red All-Weather Three-Year-Old Championships Conditions Stakes (7f)
15.30 £150,000 32Red Casino All-Weather Marathon Championships Conditions Stakes (2m)
16.05 £150,000 bookmakers.co.uk All-Weather Sprint Championships Conditions Stakes (6f)
16.40 £150,000 ladbrokes.co.uk All-Weather Mile Championships Conditions Stakes (1m)
17.20 £200,000 Coral Easter Classic All-Weather Middle-Distance Championships Conditions Stakes (1m 2f)

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