Burke hoping Fallen Angel can rise to occasion

None of the traditional Classic trials this spring produced any significant ripples in the betting for the QIPCO 2000 Guineas or QIPCO 1000 Guineas, but that is not to say that racegoers didn’t see a potential Classic winner go through their paces.

For instance, several trainers gave their big hopes for the season a racecourse gallop at Newmarket’s Craven meeting. Among them was the leading 1000 Guineas hope, Fallen Angel, who won the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes at The Curragh last season and delighted Karl Burke with her spin before racing at HQ.

He said: “She’s a filly who saves her best for when she is really asked and as you saw in the Moyglare last year, she looked beat and then was doing her best work crossing the line. I think that will be the same in the Guineas.”

A Guineas double for O’Brien?

The big disappointment in the Moyglare was the Aidan O’Brien-trained Ylang Ylang, who went off a short-priced favourite but trailed home last of the nine runners.

That effort was too bad to be true, which the Frankel filly went a long way to proving when she subsequently dug deep to win the bet365 Filies’ Mile at Newmarket in October, when she had See The Fire back in third.

O’Brien’s previous Fillies’ Mile winners have included Minding, who went on to land the Guineas/Oaks double. Similar hopes will be entertained for the stamina blessed Ylang Ylang, although Opera Singer had looked the stable’s No 1 for the Guineas before her untimely setback. She’s not among the 27 who remain in contention after the latest scratchings deadline.

O’Brien’s son, Donnacha, also has a live hope in Porta Fortuna. She won the Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes in September and signed off for the year by finishing a half-length runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf when she had Content back in fourth.

Charlie Appleby had a disappointing time last season, by his own admission, but he has four possible contenders to juggle. Dance Sequence, who edged out Skellet in the Godolphin-sponsored Oh So Sharp Stakes last season, is viewed as his No 1 despite her neck defeat at the hands of Pretty Crystal on her return in the Lanwades Stud Nell Gwynn Stakes at Newmarket. The winner is not in the Guineas but Richard Fahey, her trainer, has said she will be supplemented.

Appleby also has Cinderella’s Dream, who is unbeaten in four starts, among his ranks, but Romantic Style, who upstaged the odds-on Ramatuelle in a Group 3 contest at Deauville this month, is instead being aimed at the French 1000 Guineas. That race also seems on the agenda for Folgaria, who edged out Regal Jubilee and Elmalka in the Dubai Duty Free Stakes at Newbury.

One Look made a deep impression when thrashing Cherry Blossom by six lengths on her debut in the Goffs Million last term and was not extended to win on her return at The Curragh but Paddy Twomey, her trainer, has suggested that, in common with stablemate Purple Lily, she will be aimed at the Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas. A filly who slot into the “could be anything” category is Star Style, who only had her first start at Newbury last week but looked most professional as she zipped clear of the opposition.