William Hill Palace House Stakes |
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| Group 3, Newmarket 14:55 £80,000 guaranteed, 5f, Class 1  |
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1 Seven Questions 33/1
2 Vadream
14/1
3 Beautiful Diamond
5/2F
8 ran NR: Equality Distances: hd, shd, ½l
Time: 58.88s (slow by 0.68s)
We have SEVEN QUESTIONS and the first one is why was he 33/1!?
— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) May 4, 2024
Your winner of the Group 3 @WillHillRacing Palace House Stakes pic.twitter.com/TUtmwXOgA1
In a thrilling race at Newmarket, Seven Questions, a three-year-old, defied the odds as the surprise winner.
Despite the long odds, Jockey Callum Shepherd maintained a strong position near the front end throughout the race. As the finish line approached, the battle intensified among several runners.
In a dramatic final sprint, Seven Questions surged ahead to secure victory by a mere head, narrowly defeating runner-up Vadream. The third-placed horse was Beautiful Diamond, who finished just a short head behind Vadream.
Scott said: “It’s a big team effort with this horse as he’s as quirky as they come. He spent the night at the racecourse last night because when he gets on the box he gets very stirred up, so he had an away night about half a mile away from his stable!
“They saddled him an hour ago and he’s trying to kick everyone, but he’s a talented horse on his day and he got a brilliant ride. He’s a very good rider Callum, he’s able to do things on horses that you can’t teach.
“I went to watch City Of Troy warming up rather than watch him! He’s given us some of our scariest moments on the racecourse, but often those horses are the most talented.”
Seven Questions was campaigned without success in Dubai in the early part of the year, with his best effort coming when third in January.
Scott will now look to Royal Ascot with his charge, although his target at that fixture could now need further consideration.
The trainer added: “We’ll have to re-evaluate now, won’t we? It was very much a question of whether he was going to go to the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes or whether he’s a King’s Stand or Diamond Jubilee horse, so we’ll see.
“It’s special having a winner on 2000 Guineas day, I’m a Newmarket boy and this is our flagship meeting.”
Palace House Stakes (Group 3)
£80,000 guaranteed, 5f, Class 1
8 ran
Going: Good
POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (9) Seven Questions 3 9-0 George Scott Callum Shepherd 33/1
2 (2) hd Vadream 6 9-6 Charlie Fellowes Kieran Shoemark 14/1
3 (1) shd Beautiful Diamond 3 8-11 K R Burke Clifford Lee 5/2F
4 (8) ½ Twilight Calls 6 9-9 Henry Candy Ryan Moore 100/30
5 (7) hd Kerdos 4 9-9 Clive Cox Rossa Ryan 13/2
6 (3) hd Significantly 6 9-9 Julie Camacho Ryan Sexton 16/1
7 (6) shd Mitbaahy 5 9-9 2 Charles Hills Jamie Spencer 3/1
8 (5) 3¾ Tees Spirit 6 9-9 Adrian Nicholls Mia Nicholls 14/1
NR 1 (4) Equality 6 9-9 Charles Hills NON RUNNER
