Talk Of New York impresses in Joel Stakes at Newmarket

Talk Of New York justified 4-9 Favouritism in authoritative fashion when successful in the feature £165,000 Group Two Betway Joel Stakes over a mile at Newmarket today, Betway Cambridgeshire Friday.

Godolphin’s three-year-old Wootton Bassett colt was an impressive winner in Listed company at Sandown Park in May and was a good third behind Bow Echo and Gstaad in the Group One St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot earlier in the year.

The field of seven split into two groups in today’s contest, with Talk Of New York racing up the stands’ side. After taking the lead quarter of a mile from home, the result never looked in doubt with Talk Of New York coming home the four and three-quarter length winner from The Lost King (11-2).

Talk Of New York holds no big race entries currently, although trainer Charlie Appleby hinted supplementing for the Group One Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Qatar Racing British Champions Day (October 17th) could now be an option.

Appleby said: “I felt we were following the right horse today in Audience, as he’s a solid horse. They went a nice, even gallop and I did say to William it will be interesting to see what the ground is like on the near side. At no stage was I worried.

“We have got to try and find someone to unfortunately replace Notable Speech (the seven-time Group One winner who retires at the end of the year) but this horse is shaping up to be a horse that could hopefully fit the bill. 

“I was delighted with his run at Ascot – when you are beaten by two Classic winners you are not going to walk away disappointed. What I loved about today was that when he went out and he went down to post, he showed he is just growing up. We have always felt that the engine was there, but there were just those little idiosyncrasies like we saw at Goodwood when he jumped on. That was just the horse learning about the game and the way he raced today he was faultless.

“With the ground being on the tighter side today, Will and I had spoken last week and said we could wait for the Prix Daniel Wildenstein, but he was confident with the horse he felt we had, that we could run this week and if he won well, then the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is there. We would have to supplement, but we’ll see how the horse comes out of today. He’s a horse we are working back from next year with as we have Notable Speech as our flagship miler. He has a big mountain to climb to achieve what Notable Speech has, but he is going the right way now.”

Winning jockey William Buick added: “That was a lovely, smooth performance and you’d have to be pretty impressed by what he did there. He has built on every start this year and now we are getting towards the finished article. At Goodwood last time, it wasn’t his fault as I got too far back and ignored two horses who are proper horses – he ended up with an impossible task. Today was much better and hopefully he can build on it again.

“I think he’s a miler. He’s a fast horse and we are looking towards maybe one more run this year and then on to next year. He is very exciting - he always has been. He’s had a big reputation, but you just want to go and see them do it. He couldn’t have done much more there today.”  

Pensando A Te (15-2) made it two wins from three starts when getting up on the line to win the £125,000 Group Two Betway Rockfel Stakes, a seven-furlong contest for two-year-old fillies.

The daughter of Blackbeard still had it all to do entering the final furlong but showed a tremendous turn of speed to get up and deny 5-2 Favourite Light Of Dawn by a short-head, with another head back to Ruby Moon (16-1) in third.

Since it was established in 1981, a total of four Rockfel Stakes winners have gone on to 1000 Guineas success the following season – Musical Bliss (1988), Lahan (1999), Speciosa (2005) and Finsceal Beo (2006) – and a Classic campaign is now on the agenda for Pensando A Te.

Successful trainer Marco Botti, who previously won the contest with Al Thakhira (2013), said: “We always thought we had a nice filly and were confident she would run a nice race first time out. She has progressed since then, and did it nicely at Ascot in a small field.

“Today was obviously a step up to seven furlongs – the plan was to get her settled and then come with a late run. I must admit, I didn’t think she had got there on my first impression, but I am delighted and she is a nice filly for next year.

“Potentially, she definitely has the ability to be a Classic horse. There is a lot of speed in the family, and it was nice to see she settled well at the back and that hopefully that means she can get the extra furlong to stay a mile. We will train with the view to her being a Classic filly next year and see how she does through the winter. We will give her a nice break now.

“In a way, she is still a little bit on the weak side – when you look at her, she is still not the finished article. It would be nice to have one for the Guineas.”

Winning jockey Silvestre De Sousa said: “She is tough. They way she jumped out, I had to ride a different race than what I had in my mind, but she responded and is a nice filly. I think she will be better next year.

“She’s not very big, but I think she could grow through the winter. Marco said she was a bit hot today before he put the saddle on, but she came to the race in good nick. 

“If you ride her quiet, I think she’d get an extra furlong. She has got a lot of talent and a lot of speed too.”