Woodbine
Race 10
Fev Rover
Mark Casse – Patrick Husbands
4-year-old filly; Gutaifan – Laurelita (High Chaparral)
Previously trained by Richard Fahey. A winner of two of her eleven starts, Fev Rover is well known to European horseplayers as a very tough and consistent filly. A Group 2 winner as a juvenile, she was mooted as a candidate for the Juvenile Fillies Turf but skipped the race, justifying that decision with a third place in the 1000 Guineas on her seasonal debut as a three-year-old. She wasn’t as good the next twice on heavy ground, but bounced back off a break with a fine second in a well-contested Group 2 at Leopardstown, ran solidly next time out in a Group 1, and rounded off her career for Richard Fahey with a sound effort in a valuable race in Bahrain. Sold subsequently for an eye-watering 695,000 Guineas, she returns here off a lay-off, but has gone very well fresh before – the aforementioned Guineas run was off a 210 day break – and this hardy type is the sort you can get plenty of work into; she has some good, fast works on the tab. She has yet to win over a mile but should get the distance around here no problem. Hard to work out how she will be ridden, as she can be keen and is unlikely to get much of a pace to run at on paper, with almost all of these confirmed hold up horses. I suspect she will got forward and sit prominent from stall three, and if she settles she should be right there at the finish. She is capable of running a Beyer in the high 90s, which should make her highly competitive here.
Saratoga
Race 7
Stay Lost
Joseph O’Brien – John Velazquez
2-year-old colt; Bernadini – Darci’s Dream (Darci Brahma)
An unraced juvenile bred in Kentucky, he is the first 2-year-old debutant from Joseph O’Brien satellite barn. Cost $195k at auction and out of a dam that was placed at the top level in New Zealand. Very hard to weigh up, so factors like paddock inspection and betting will be key here. O’Brien himself is very capable of getting one ready to win first time up and it seems unlikely that he has shipped one like this over for an educational spin around.
