Cheveley Park Stakes Guide 2021

Irish raider, Sacred Bridge, holds leading claims ahead of the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes, thanks to going unbeaten across her opening 4 runs.

Ger Lyons is in good form of late with a 21% strike rate across the last 14 days, and brings with him current holding Irish flat champion jockey Colin Keane to ride who has ridden the runner on all of her last 4 starts.

Sacred Bridge, a daughter of Bated Breath, was a listed winner at Tipperary over 5f on just her 2nd career start and subsequently landed a 22 runner median auction race at Naas next time up.

She was better than ever last time out, landing the Group 3 Round Tower Stakes by 3.75 lengths at the Curragh and she now makes the step up into Group 1 company.

She again posses' potential to improve once more, and appears the one to beat, however thats not to say she isn't opposable given progeny of Bated Breath often prefer ground classed as 'good' ,and the sires offspring have a current record of 0-21 upon ground faster than good over 6f at Newmarket.

Andrew Balding has a decent 21% win rate with his turf 2-year-olds this season and holds decent claims at retaining the Cheveley Park Stakes after winning the contest with Alcohol Free in 2020.

His entrant Sandrine, a daughter of Bobby's Kitten, has a record of 3 wins from 4 in her career, winning the Albany Group 3 (6f) upon heavy ground on just her second career start after a debut win at Kempton.

She then proved her capabilities back on faster turf in the Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes (6f), beating Desert Dreamer by 1.75 lengths to land that Group 2 contest.

She was conceding 3lbs to Zain Claudette in the Group 2 Lowther Stakes last time out, resulting in a 1 length beating by that runner to lose her first race; however the pair now re-oppose each other off even weights, paying dividends to her chances of reversing that form.

She holds a strong chance in this and it would be no surprise to see her step up now to Group 1 level and get her head in front.

Zain Claudette has won 3 of her opening 4 races for trainer Ismail Mohammed and brings some classy form to the contest given she has landed the Group 3 Princess Margaret and the Group 2 Lowther Stakes on her last 2 runs.

The daughter of No Nay Never, edged out Sandrine last time out at York by a length margin, receiving 3lbs from her re-opposing rival on that occasion who she meets again off even weights.

It will be an interesting rematch between the pair, especially given Ismail Mohammed's comments on how much Zain Claudette has come on since the Group 2.

She holds the leading claims on form in this contest and poses a solid win or each way option at the current prices.

Simon & Ed Crisford are often known for their 2-year-old's success', especially given the pairings 26% strike rate with 2yo turf runners across the last 5 seasons (22% 2021).

Their entrant for the Cheveley Park Stakes is Flotus, a daughter of Starspangledbanner, who was dominant at listed level (6f) last time out, winning by a 4.5 length margin.

She now makes the big leap up to a Group 1, however isn't completely discounted if building on that last time out performance.

Nevertheless, progeny of Starspangledbanner are often known to appreciate the softer ground and Flotus was well beaten on good to firm at Newmarket on the July course, 5.5 lengths behind Sandrine in July.

She has improved since that run however looks to have a bit to find all the same.

Corazon has been supplemented by connections ahead of the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes and there's every reason to believe she has a decent chance off the back of that.

George Boughey is in good form of late with a 23% win rate across the last 14 days; the trainer has a 21% strike rate with his turf 2-year-olds this season and has a 40% win rate at Newmarket in 2021, with 13 of his 15 runners here having finished in the first 3.

Corazon, a daughter of Markaz, has won 2 of her 4 career starts thus far, all her runs over the 5f trip, most recently winning a Group 3 in France on her penultimate start.

She proved her capabilities at Group 2 level last time out, getting within a neck of the winner in a blanket finish in the Flying Childers on good to firm at Doncaster, shaping as if she is now ready for a longer trip.

She now steps into this Group 1 and steps up to 6f for the first time which has real potential at bringing out further improvements.

She looks to have conditions to suit and looks a solid each way proposition for the affair with the eye-catching booking of William Buick in the saddle.

Stuart Williams has his yard in good shape, operating at a 20% strike rate across the last 14 days.

He teams up with Oisin Murphy once again on board Desert Dreamer, who is one of the now more exposed runners in the field having had 7 career starts.

The daughter of Oasis Dream won on her opening two starts this season and has since ran big races from listed to Group level without due reward.

She was 1.75 lengths behind Sandrine back in 2nd for the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes (6f) before getting within a nose of Zain Claudette upon fast ground at in the Princess Margaret (6f).

She had excuses last time out given Murphy's saddle slipped and unbalanced the runner in the final 110 yards, however it remains difficult to tell whether that will of made too much of a difference in her chances at opposing the 1-2 in Zain Claudette and Sandrine.

She once again looks to have a bit to find in order to beat that pairing here.

Aidan O'Brien landed a back to back hattrick of Cheveley Park Stakes wins in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and he poses an interesting proposition in this years renewal via his entrant Tenebrism.

Tenebrism, is 1 from 1 having convincingly landed a soft 5f maiden at Naas by 3.75 lengths in March.

The daughter of Caravaggio has been off the track ever since and makes her re-appearance 181 days later in a Group 1.

The race is a huge step up in grade and she will need to show vast improvements in order to be up for winning at this level on her second career start.

Impossible to discount given her yards status and this horses potential on breeding, however this does appear a big ask all the same.

Karl Burke is in good form of late with a 20% winning return on his runners across the last 14 days; he's also well established with his 2yo turf runners, boasting a 17% strike rate with them this season.

His entrant, Illustrating, is 2 wins from 4 across her short spanned career to date, all over the 5f trip, most recently landing a class 2 conditions stakes race upon soft ground at Goodwood on her penultimate start.

She was heavy involved in the step up to Group 3 company last time out at Longchamp, finishing 3rd behind re-opposing rival Corazon, just a neck behind in a blanket finish.

She now steps up into a Group 1 and looks open to improvement once more now making the first time step up to 6f.

Nevertheless, progeny of Showcasing, as already proven by Illustrating, are well suited to the softer conditions and 4 wins in 95 runs (4% S/R) for the sire's offspring at Newmarket upon conditions faster than good, is not good reading for her chances here.

Eve Lodge is another to have been supplemented by connections in order for the ownership to try their hand at Group 1 glory.

Trained by Charlie Fellowes, a local to Newmarket, the runner has recorded 2 wins across her opening 5 attempts.

The daughter of Ardad showed vast improvements last time out to land the Group 3 Sirenia Stakes at Kempton, seeing off Wings Of War and Hierachy who have since franked the form by being the 1-2 in the subsequently ran Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury last week.

Thats a strong piece of form and provides plenty of optimism for Eve Lodge to be competitive in this Group 1 field.

Having said this, Charlie Fellowes has already been quoted revealing Eve Lodge's disliking to the faster ground, so despite having a seemingly outside chance for the contest, based on current conditions she appears to be well held.

French raider, Have A Good Day represents European trainer Florian Guyader in the Group 1 6f contest.

The daughter of Adaay has won 3 of her 6 races to date, including a Group 3 listed win at Deauville upon soft ground o her penultimate start.

She was subsequently stepped up to a Group 1 at Deauville last time out (6f) and was prominent for a long way before fading into 6th as her challengers came off the pace to get on top.

Based on that evidence, she again has plenty to find here and she also doesn't appear well suited to a fast ground contest having been untried on the surface and being sired by Adaay.

Irish raider Velocidad went 2 from 2 in her opening runs, landing a soft/heavy ground contest on debut before subsequently stepping up to land the Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes (6f) at the Curragh on fast ground.

She was kept in training for 2 months following that effort and wasn't to be seen again until last time out in France, where she was well below form in a Group 1 at Deauville to finish a well beaten 11th.

That run may of been needed in order to get her back into the swing of things after that short layoff however it has left her with it all to prove once again here.

Thunder Love is George Boughey's second entrant for the affair, ridden by Rossa Ryan.

The daughter of Profitable went 2 from 2 across her opening contests (5f) however could only manage a 5th placed finish on her first time step up into listed company.

She contested the Group 2 Flying Childers last time out, and was notably hampered and short of room when looking to get a run of things, finishing 5th and 1.75 lengths behind stablemate Corazon who was in 3rd.

She now makes the first time step up to 6f and looks likely to improve for the new trip.

It'll be interesting to see how closely matched she is with her stablemate if getting a run of things and now contesting a new trip.

Given Corazon is less than half her price in this and has strong claims for the contest, she appears overpriced.

Guilded, a daughter of Mastercraftsman, is Karl Burkes second entrant in the affair, who is turned out quickly, just 4 days after dominating a class 5 novice at Beverley by 5 lengths in a clear set up in order for her to record her first win.

She has done all her racing to date over 5f, with her most notable piece of form coming when finishing 6th at Longchamp on her penultimate start in a Group 3 contest behind Corazon and stablemate Illustrating.

She was short of room that day and didn't exactly get the run of things, however based on jockey bookings it appears the yard are favoring Illustrating to cement that form in spite of that run.

Based on that evidence, and the fact she is now jumping into a Group 1, she appears out of her depth here.