Apologies for the lacklustre runs at Ascot on Saturday.
Flowerhead didn't run to the same level as she did at Royal Ascot. The pace held up quite well at Ascot yesterday, and the winner went from the front and wasn't to be caught.
Aalto was horrendous. Buick made the decision to go to the stands' side after being drawn on the far side. That is something I'm not a huge fan of; I'd rather them go into a straight line and stay with the group on their side. In hindsight, the tactics didn't make a difference. Given how well he ran in the Bunbury Cup, he was the total opposite in this race and was the first horse beaten.
Map Of Stars 9/4 (1pt, Unibet/Ladbrokes) – Munich 1.10
You're probably seeing the track and thinking what is Rizzel doing? Sunday's racing in the UK isn't the best, and the best quality race of the day comes in Germany.
Map Of Stars hasn't been a winner for me on the two occasions I've tipped him up, but I deeply believe he is a Group 1 horse. This Group 1 is not the strongest, so if he were ever to win a Group 1, today is the day.
He struggled at Royal Ascot a month ago, when a lot of the French horses ran below expectations. I think the rattling fast ground wasn't to his liking, so the slightly slower ground he encounters at Munich will be better suited. He has some strong form, and even his run at Ascot wasn't terrible. He was second to Sosie in a Group 1 at Longchamp the time before last. The winner was fourth in the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe, which is the best form in the race. Al Riffa was back in fourth; he has since finished second at Royal Ascot and won a Group 2 by 5L last time out at the Curragh.
This race has a couple of horses who could threaten him for the win. The main horse is the six-year-old French horse, Calif. He is a good horse on his day, and he was the winner of this contest twelve months ago. His runs this year in the Middle East and in Asia have been decent, and a repeat performance of one of those will push Map Of Stars all the way.
Tornado Alert is the UK runner from Saeed Bin Suroor's stable. Oisin Murphy makes the trip over, which is a dangerous combination. They have partnered up many times over the years, and have done very well on foreign trips. He was a decent fourth in the UK 2000 Guineas, but has since not gone on as well as some would have thought. You cannot write him off as the trainer is still a very capable guy, and he is getting the weight-for-age allowance, which will help him out massively. Persica is the other runner making the trip over from England and comes from Richard Hannon's yard. He is in good form this year, but the level of form means he has to take a decent step up to compete against the French horses who have Group 1 form.
GambleAware