Tudhope understandably excited by favourite Fallen Angel in open looking QIPCO 1000 Guineas

Danny Tudhope is excited at having by far his best chance yet of Classic success when he partners favourite Fallen Angel for Karl Burke in the QIPCO 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on Sunday.

Tudhope has won Group 1s all over the world since his first success 20 years ago, but a coveted first Classic has so far been well out of reach. That will hopefully change this weekend, when he also has live outsider Night Raider to look forward to for the same connections in Saturday’s QIPCO 2000 Guineas.

The 38-year-old finished second in the jockeys’ championship in 2019 and, besides enjoying a long-standing retainer with Fallen Angel’s owner-breeder Steve Parkin of Clipper Logistics, he has become a ‘go to’ rider for some of the biggest operations in the business. However, he has never before had a realistic chance in a Classic.

Fallen Angel faces 15 rivals in the fillies’ Classic, which is part of the 35-race QIPCO British Champions Series. It is widely seen as an open renewal, and her stable-mate Darnation is not without a chance at long odds, but her win in last year’s Moyglare Stud Stakes win at The Curragh was a top-class effort and Tudhope is entitled to be excited.

He said: “It’s all gone well in the build up and I’ve got two good chances this weekend. Fallen Angel is favourite, and I think she deserves to be. She’s the sort of filly who just goes through the motions at home and only does what she has to do, but I’ve sat on her a good few times since last season and she’s great.

Laurens was the best filly I’d ridden, but Fallen Angel could be every bit as good

“She’s taking everything in her stride and I think she’s crying out for the mile at Newmarket. I rode her in a racecourse gallop at the Craven meeting and she impressed me. She galloped with a sprinter and we went quick, but she picked him up very easily and then dossed when we got half a length up, which is just her. She won the Sweet Solera on Newmarket’s July course last year and she’s very well balanced, so the track isn’t going to be a problem.”

Tudhope, who won two Group 1s on Burke’s 2018 QIPCO 1000 Guineas runner-up while regular rider PJ McDonald was sidelined, added: “Group 1 wins are hard to come by. I think I’ve had ten or eleven of them, but a Classic would be the icing on the cake. I’ve never come close in one, but I’ve mainly ridden outsiders and Fallen Angel would be my biggest chance by far.

“She’s a different sort to Laurens, who was an absolute tank of a filly and would catch the eye every morning. Laurens was the best filly I’d ridden, but Fallen Angel could be every bit as good and it would mean the world to me to win a Classic for Steve and his family, who I’ve been with for six or seven years. He bred Fallen Angel too, so that would make it extra special.”

Fallen Angel had two fancied representatives of the O’Brien family behind in the Moyglare, and both merit plenty of respect here. The Donnacha O’Brien-trained Moyglare third Porta Fortuna went on to win the Cheveley Park Stakes and to finish second in the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita. Last-placed Ylang Ylang, bidding to give his father Aidan a remarkable eighth win here, also added a Group 1, winning the Fillies’ Mile over Sunday’s course and distance, when she settled much better and had See The Fire in a close third.

Oisin aims to light up the track for another 1000 Guineas

Andrew Balding felt that the superbly bred See The Fire, who is by Sea The Stars out of Juddmonte International winner Arabian Queen, was a little unlucky there, having found herself in front much sooner than ideal. He has described her as “the standout” among the stable’s three-year-olds, which is praise indeed from a team of well over 100.

French trainer Christopher Head bids to maintain an extraordinary family tradition when he saddles last year’s Prix Robert Papin winner Ramatuelle, as his grandfather Alec, father Freddy, and aunt Criquette between them won the 1000 Guineas six times. Head is a huge fan of racing in the UK and would surely appreciate a tonic after his runaway QIPCO British Champions Day winner Big Rock and many others were switched to Maurizio Guarnieri.

She’s full of energy, with a strong heart and a strong mind

Head admits he has “big shoes to fill”, but besides being able to call on the vast experience enjoying of his family he also has the “special” input of owner Tony Parker, the former San Antonio Spurs basketball star, who will have Arsenal legend and France World Cup winner Thierry Henry among his entourage at Newmarket.

Ramatuelle, Head believes, “has the profile for the Guineas” and is “full of energy, with a strong heart and a strong mind”. She also has a lot of speed, and that is typical of French-trained winners of the race. Although she was beaten by Romantic Style when stepping up to seven furlongs in the Prix Imprudence at Deauville (Tamfana third), Head points out it was “awful ground” yet Ramatuelle  finished the race off well. 

The Imprudence, by the way, was the stepping stone used by every one of his father’s and his aunt’s Guineas winners, and while Ma Biche (1983), Miesque (1987) and Ravinella (1988) all won it, both Hatoof (1992) and Special Duty (2011) were beaten but still won at Newmarket.

Don’t rule out Godolphin

Godolphin’s Charlie Appleby saddles two smart fillies in a bid to win one of the two Classics that have so far eluded him. Dance Sequence lost her unbeaten record with a Newmarket second in the Nell Gwyn Stakes to Pretty Crystal, who has been supplemented here by Richard Fahey at a cost of £30,000. Cinderella’s Dream has won all of her four races, including the Jumeirah 1000 Guineas at Meydaan.

Appleby said: “Dance Sequence had a nice trial in the Nell Gwyn, where she still showed her rawness. With the step up to a mile and the experience she gained there I’m very confident she’s going to be running a big race. Cinderella’s Dream is four from four and gave us some entertainment at Meydaan in the winter, where William (Buick, who has chosen Dance Sequence) had to take his feet out of the irons for half of the race but she showed her class in what she achieved. She’s a tough little filly and she definitely deserves to be in the line-up.”

Star Style could hardly have been more impressive when storming home clear in a newcomers’ race at Newbury 24 hours before the Nell Gwyn. Richard Hannon appreciates that she has big questions to answer, but he is really excited by her.

He said: “We are throwing her in at the deep end, without question, but whenever her owner Julie Wood has a chance of winning a big race she’ll take it with both hands. How she’ll handle the track is unknown, but if she does she’ll run a big race.

“She is a monster. She’s massive, but she’s quite elegant and quite adaptable. We always liked her and we hoped she might win at Newbury, but to win in the style she did is just not normal. It was a very good time, on slower ground than the Fred Darling the following day, and when ours win first time out they are normally very useful.

The Fred Darling runner-up Regal Jubilee will be very well suited by the extra furlong, while third-placed Elmalka, who was having only her second start and finished well, also has potential for significant improvement. Last-placed Star Music stopped quickly that day, but her stable is in red-hot form now.

The field is completed by outsiders Rolica, who won just a maiden at the Craven meeting but represents a stable that tends to punch above its weight at this level, and Sacred Angel, a tough filly who was third in the Cheveley Park Stakes.