It was All-Weather Championships Trials Day at Newcastle last Friday and there were some excellent performances on show.

Cloud Cover, who won the Fillies’ and Mares’ Final last year, had won a Listed race at Deauville last month, and arguably proved better than ever returned to Newcastle as her class edge shone through in what otherwise looks muddling form.

Clifford Lee had ridden her to success on Finals Day last year and he returned to the saddle in some style, given her the most confident ride, looking like he had nowhere to go entering the final furlong, but in no way panicking and he only had to briefly shake her up in the final 100 yards for her to readily assert.

A slight concern is that the runner-up was racing from 13lb out of the handicap and remains a maiden, but given the manner of Cloud Cover’s success, it is probably best not to get too hung up on that, as she was much, much superior and again looks the one to beat at this stage in the year’s Fillies’ and Mares’ Final.

Trainer James Tate post-race said: “That was a cracking ride and Clifford gave her an equally good ride on Finals Day last season. He was very, very cool.

“We will have to see what the handicapper makes of it, but I would think that was a career best from Cloud Cover. Even if she goes up in the handicap, if she turns up on Finals Day in that sort of form, she is going to be tough to beat.

“She will head to Kempton next for the Snowdrop Stakes on March 29 and then it will be back to Newcastle for the final on Good Friday.

“She will be covered by Kingman at some point. It could be before or after those races as the covering season generally runs from March to May, so we will work out when to slot that in.”

The last paragraph of that quote is very interesting, as we know mares can thrive once being covered, and I’d imagine connections will be ecstatic by the handicapper just raising her 3lb in the weights since.

Another performance which caught the eye on Trials Day was that of So Darn Hot, who also was impressive in the three-year-old sprint.

So Darn Hot had some strong form in novice events before opening his account over six furlongs in heavy ground at Doncaster in November, and he proved himself on a fair mark making his handicap debut over five furlongs at Newcastle on his next start.

He may have been sent off odds-on that day, but he shaped like the return to the minimum trip was on the sharp side, and he comprehensively reversed the form with Yes I’m Mali on Friday back at six furlongs. It was a strongly-run race, which suited him well, while his run down the favoured stand-side rail probably stood him in good stead, too.

However, you can mark up So Darn Hot’s performance further when taking sectionals into account. He was given a confident ride by an excellent 7lb claimer, coming from the rear with a sweeping run to easily brush past his rivals entering the final furlong, and he was the only horse in the field to run the final three furlongs in under 35 seconds. Furthermore, he was nearly a second quicker than the runner-up (he was ridden more prominently).

So Darn Hot has been raised 5lb for that success, which again looks lenient, especially given his unexposed profile on a synthetic surface.

His trainer, Kevin Philipart de Foy, expressed: “That was a nice performance from So Darn Hot. This race had been the plan since he won at Doncaster in early November. We decided to give him a run at Newcastle over five furlongs to see how he handled the track, knowing that the trip would be too short.

“We will aim him at Finals Day now and he could run once more in between, possibly in late February. He has done very little wrong in his career so far and I think there is more improvement there. He could get seven furlongs later in the year.”

The Andrew Balding-trained Old Harrovian also put himself in the picture for the Easter Classic back at Newcastle on Good Friday. He had finished runner-up to lightly-raced, progressive six-year-old Glen Buck at Southwell on his previous start, and gave a big form boost to that one with a bloodless success in the mile and a quarter handicap which brought together several in-form horses.

He was another who came in for a very confident ride, tanking along in rear and easily overcoming a bit of trouble in-running around two furlongs out, his rider not panicking and clearly knowing how much horse he had underneath him.

Old Harrovian was switched entering the final furlong and, similar to Cloud Cover, was produced to lead in the final 100 yards and easily moved clear under a hand ride. His closing sectional was also impressive, the only horse to run under 36 seconds for the final furlong (considerably so, too: 35.34) and almost a second quicker than all of his rivals. That’s impressive given he was by no means given the full office by his rider and head to the Easter Classic with leading claims.

All three horses mentioned who won on Friday are now qualified for Finals Day and will receive a £15,000 bonus if they are also successful in their corresponding races, while a £35,000 bonus will be up for grabs on Good Friday if they also run and are successful at Lingfield’s Trials Day at the end of February.

Another horse who will be aimed at the Easter Classic is Charlotte’s Web, who gave the Crisfords a third straight win in the Winter Oaks at Lingfield on Saturday.

Charlotte’s Web was seen to maximum effect on Saturday, though, securing an uncontested lead from her outside draw in stall 11 and all out to hold on from Elladonna in the closing stages, upholding previous form with that rival on revised terms.

More will be needed to extend her winning run on Good Friday, but Simon Crisford still has high hopes for her. He said: “I am really pleased as this race has been the plan for a while. It was a fantastic front-running ride from Jack and a great effort from the filly.

“It was not the plan to make the running but, from that draw in stall 11, we felt we needed to jump and get a good position. She found herself in front and switched off well.

“It is difficult to compare her to our other winners of this race, although she seems to be progressing with each race and looks of a similar level to them at this stage of her career.

“The intention now is to head to Finals Day and she will not run before then. In time, I hope she will be up to getting black type.”

Andrew Asquith’s record in 2024: +109pts with a ROI of 53.43%

It isn’t the most appealing betting card at Kempton this evening, but I’m surprised at the price of KINIRO this morning having opened up favourite yesterday evening. He started 100/1 for his debut at Wolverhampton in November and was far too green to do himself justice, but he has progressed well since, taking a big step forward when opening his account at Lingfield a couple of weeks ago.

That may not have been the strongest race of its type, but the market only wanted to know one horse, the Richard Hannon-trained Left Over Love starting the 6/1-on favourite, but there was no fluke in Kiniro’s success and he was snugly on top at the line.

He wasn’t best away, and still appeared to be learning on the job in rear, having to be shrugged along at times to keep him in touch, but making good headway entering the straight.

Kiniro was switched to what is usually the unfavoured far-side rail so after and was by no means all out to get on top of the short-priced favourite close home, just pushed out hands-and-heels and arguably doing well to get through as he didn’t have much room.

That experience won’t be lost on him, likely to bring him forward another chunk, while the step up to seven furlongs should also be in his favour. This has the potential to be muddling with only five runners, but Misty Sky will likely go along in front and Master Technician usually races prominently, so hopefully it won’t be run at a dawdle.

Kiniro looks progressive now, an opening mark of 79 looking pretty lenient, especially for a horse who has shown marked improvement in three starts. This track with its longer straight should also help him and he looks too big in the betting this morning to ignore.

Preview posted at 0910 GMT on 22/01/2025

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