Betfair Dee Stakes |
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| Listed, Chester 14:40 £75,000 added, 3yo only, 1m 2f 75y, Class 1  |
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| Friday 8th May 2015 | |
1 Not So Sleepy 11/1
2 Disegno 11/4
3 Prince Gagarin 11/4
4 ran Distances: sh, 3l, 3¾l
TIME 2m 21.04s
Smuggler's Cove fails to provide Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore a third Classic trial of the week as Not So Sleepy hangs on from Disegno.
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In a bid to find the better ground, Jim Crowley bounced the Not So Sleepy out into the middle of the track before crossing over to take the lead heading around the first turn, and he wound things up from the front in a move which saw Aidan O'Brien's short-priced favourite Smuggler's Cove become the first beaten.
Heading down the home straight the Hughie Morrison-trained runner was challenged on either side by Prince Gagarin and Disegno and the latter stuck on well, but in tenacious fashion Not So Sleepy, the outsider of the quartet, stuck his neck out to score by a short head.
Crowley said: "We got it nice and easy out in front and he settled well. It was the first time I had ridden him and Hughie said he could be a bit keen. He got headed and did really well to battle back.
"I thought the ground was better out there (the middle of the track) and I didn't want to get a horse upsides him early on."
Morrison added: "He has a lot of ability and it's thanks to the lads who ride him at home that he's run the race he has today. He was a bit keen, but he loved it. He stayed every yard and went on the ground.
"It's a nice birthday present for Lord Blyth, who owns this horse with his wife, Lady Blyth. They have got lots of nice horses.
"Owner-breeders are crucial to our industry. They have two or three mares and support the industry regardless. We are lucky to have them."
He went on: "There is no grand plan. He probably wants soft ground, so he might go to France at some stage as he stays well enough. He has always run slightly on his nerves, but maybe this will make him grow up."
Smuggler's Cove trailed in a well-beaten last, with a failure to act on the ground put forward as the reason for his below-par effort.
Coolmore's UK representative Kevin Buckley said: "He didn't act on the ground. Simple as that. He's won on soft before but he didn't go on that today."
Betfair Dee Stakes (Listed)
£75,000 added, 3yo only, 1m 2f 75y, Class 1
4 ran
Going: Soft
| Pos | Draw | Dist | Horse SP | Jockey Weight | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | (6) | Not So Sleepy 11/1 | Jim Crowley 9-0 |
H Morrison | 3 | |
| 2nd | (1) | s.h | Disegno (IRE) 11/4 | T E Durcan 9-0 |
Sir Michael Stoute | 3 |
| 3rd | (3) | 2 | Prince Gagarin (IRE) 11/4 | A Kirby 9-3 |
E A L Dunlop | 3 |
| 4th | (4) | 3¾ | Smuggler's Cove (IRE) 6/5f | R L Moore 9-3 |
A P O'Brien | 3 |
| NR | (7) | Nafaqa (IRE) 9/4 | Non Runner 9-3 |
B W Hills | 3 | |
| NR | (5) | Snoano 6/1 | Non Runner 9-0 |
J H M Gosden | 3 | |
| NR | (2) | Yeenaan (FR) 16/1 | Non Runner 9-0 |
M Botti | 3 |
