Weekend Market Movers - 03/05/21

One of the surprises of the weekend came in the 1000 Guineas as AP O'Briens second string in the race picked up the victory under a typically tough ride from Frankie.

Just the one victory from eight runs as a two year old in 2020, she did manage to place in the Group 1 Bet365 Fillies Mile and then in the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland.

She put in an outstanding performance in the 1000 Guineas on Sunday which understandably saw a vast amount of support on the Epsom Oaks antepost market which has seen her backed in to as short as 8/1 from 50/1.

By Frankel to Listed winner French Dressing, the William Haggas trained colt was a maiden as a two year-old but to say he's turned it around as a three year-old would be an understatement.

He won well at Lingfield over a mile in March and then backed up that form a month later when picking up his first victory on the turf at Newmarket over 1m 2f.

Then came his outstanding performance in the Listed Betfair Newmarket Stakes on Saturday.

Sent off as second favourite behind Secret Protector, he was held up patiently at the rear of the four runner field before pulling out four furlongs out and travelling in to the race beautifully and from there it was all systems go winning by five lengths on the bridle.

It was arguably THEE performance of the flat season so far and he's now been hammered on to 7/1 from 40/1 for the Epsom Derby in June.

The extremely popular Sir Ron Priestley was back in action once again this weekend and by the looks of it, he's back to his old self.

After finishing second in the 2019 St Leger, he wasn't seen on a racecourse for 571 days and he made an emphatic return at Beverley last month to get off the mark in 2021 at the first time of asking.

In the Group 2 Betfair Exchange Jockey Club Stakes on Saturday, he made the race a test of stamina by going off in front setting a fairly strong gallop and as expected, there was nothing else in the field that could claw him back.

He's got an entry in to the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot but the race in which has seen the most money come for him is the Ascot Gold Cup.

The furthest distance he's ever ran over is 1m 6f so the 2m 4f distance of the Gold Cup will be a huge step up in trip but in this sort of mood, he'll be hard to write off in any race.

The final market mover of the weekend comes in the form of the Ed Walker trained Came From The Dark.

A horse that's floated between 5f & 6f in recent times, he hit just about as much traffic as he would have on the M6 at rush hour on his way to finishing second behind Lazuli in the Group 3 Betfair Palace House Stakes on Saturday.

He was always making ground on the eventual winner near the finish and had there been another half a furlong, he would more than likely have won on the bridle so it's no surprise to see good money come for him for Kings Stand Stakes honours at Royal Ascot next month.