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Botti pair primed for Ces mission

3 minute read

Marco Botti has two bullets to fire in the Betfred Cesarewitch at Newmarket on Saturday.

Trainer Marco Botti
Trainer Marco Botti Picture: Racing and Sports

The Newmarket-based Italian runs Chester Cup winner Suegioo and Old Newton Cup scorer De Rigueur.

"Both horses are in good form and the rain they've had will be a help to De Rigueur," said Botti.

"We freshened him up after his last run at Chester and he hasn't had many runs this year. He should go there with a live chance.

"Suegioo stays well and has a similar profile to De Rigueur. He's improved this year since we gelded him and I don't think there is much between the two."

Andrew Balding has Communicator and Debdebdeb in contention and feels both horses are capable of picking up some prize-money if things fall right.

"Communicator has been in good form all year, really, finishing third the Chester Cup and the Old Borough Cup at Haydock. He doesn't mind a big field and stays well," said the trainer.

"Debdebdeb was a bit disappointing last time, albeit in Group company. She seems in good form, though, and ran well in a handicap over a mile and five (furlongs) at Newmarket the time before. The trip should be fine for her and hopefully both horses will run well."

David Simcock's pair of Ray Ward and Gabrial's King were third and eighth respectively in the Cesarewitch Trial and turn out for the big one.

Simcock said: "It has been the plan for both of them since the Trial and they are in good form. Stall 32 is a shocker for Ray Ward, but he'll be dropped in and hopefully he'll run a decent race. In an ideal world, they won't get too much rain. I think the other horse might surprise a few people."

Ismail Mohammed's Rhombus is on a hat-trick following wins at Newmarket and Newbury.

Assistant trainer Niall Collum said: "He's had a great preparation for the race and goes there in great shape. Two and a quarter miles is a bit of an unknown, but I'd be confident he'll get the trip and I think he must go there with every chance, to be honest.

"The conditions are great for him at the moment, so hopefully the ground doesn't dry out too much - although he's a horse who doesn't really like the hustle and bustle and there are a lot of runners.

"Hopefully Cam (Hardie, jockey) can get a nice run on him and he gets a bit of luck on the day. You always need a lot of luck in these races."

Groovejet ran a tremendous race to be second in the Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster and represents Peter Chapple-Hyam.

Owner Phil Cunningham said: "I can't wait, to be honest. I'm really looking forward to it. She did her last piece of work on Wednesday, I believe, and apparently came out of that really well. She ran a great race at Doncaster last time and has improved with every run this year.

"She looks to have a reasonable draw (stall 10). She's in great form and I think she goes there with a cracking chance - a much better chance than her price suggests."

Ted Spread joined Suzy Smith earlier this year, following previous stints with Mark Tompkins and Paul Nicholls, and was a game winner at Goodwood at the end of May. The seven-year-old has been off the track since then, but Smith could not be happier with his well-being.

She said: "We decided to give him a break after he won at Goodwood as he was sent to us as a dual-purpose horse, really, and he had to have a break at some stage. I'm delighted with how he is going at home and he's in really good order.

"This has been the plan ever since Goodwood. We did consider running in the Ascot Stakes at the Royal meeting, but I just felt two and a half miles there on ground that wouldn't really have suited him was probably the wrong way to go.

"I'm pleased we've got Luke Morris to ride him again and I suppose the one question mark is the trip, but I do think he has a good chance of getting it, if ridden correctly. We wouldn't mind seeing a bit more rain for him. He'll be going back over hurdles later in the year and we also plan to run him over fences at some stage."

See And Be Seen and Knightly Escapade, the two Cesarewitch reserves, were eliminated after there were no non-runners at Friday morning's cut-off point.


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