Damysus primed to end his season on a high

Damysus has the chance to end his season on a high a week later than planned in the Too Darn Hot Darley Stakes at Newmarket.

John and Thady Gosden’s son of Frankel roared back from Derby disappointment to win in Listed company at Deauville and was set for another outing in France before soft ground at ParisLongchamp put paid to his participation in the Prix Dollar.

He has instead been rerouted to a race the Clarehaven team won not only 12 months ago with subsequent Lockinge scorer Lead Artist but also the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and Juddmonte International-winning Mostahdaf in 2021.

“John and Thady say Damysus is in great nick and obviously he has a little weekend trip to Paris without doing anything, but he enjoyed his time out there,” said Richard Brown, racing adviser for owners Wathnan Racing.

“I hope this is a nice place to finish the season over here. He got upset in the stalls in the Derby and things just didn’t go his way at Epsom. There was a lot against him and we learned he’s probably not a mile-and-a-half horse and we don’t think he wants soft ground.

“He’s a strong traveller with a good turn of foot and he was impressive in the Prix Nureyev. I think nine furlongs at Newmarket will hopefully be ideal for him.”

Damysus’ performance on Saturday could open some exciting adventures overseas, with Brown adding: “We’ll see what happens on Saturday and how he fares, but it would definitely be on the radar to look at going abroad for a race or two over the winter.”

Liberty Lane was second in the Group Three event last year and has the chance to go one better, while trainer Karl Burke and owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid are represented by Flying Scotsman runner-up Hankelow in the Emirates Emirates Autumn Stakes.

Others of note in that one-mile contest include Charlie Appleby’s Al Zanati, who made a winning start on the July course in the summer, and Aidan O’Brien’s pair of Straight Up and New Zealand.

One electing to step up in trip for the Night Of Thunder Zetland Stakes is Alan King’s Yarmouth scorer Spyce who adds plenty of seasoning to the 10-furlong Group Three stepping into deeper waters.

King said: “We had the option of both the Autumn Stakes and this, but he didn’t look to be stopping at the end of a mile at Yarmouth last time so we thought this might be a more suitable race than the Autumn Stakes, we will see.

“We’ve got to have a go and see where we are with him. It’s exciting and Rossa (Ryan) rode him a bit of work last week and was very happy with him, so we’ll see what happens Saturday and I’m looking forward to running him.”

Appleby and O’Brien are again strongly represented, with the Godolphin handler fielding Look To The Stars who registered back-to-back victories in Newbury’s typically warm Haynes, Hanson & Clark Conditions Stakes.

O’Brien runs Endorsement and Pierre Bonnard, with the latter an eyecatching Dundalk winner in August and the mount of Christophe Soumillon.

The action concludes with the Listed Modern Games British EBF Boadicea Stakes, where Alfa Kellenic will bid to gain compensation for defeat in the race when heavy favourite last year.

Now under the tutelage of Ivan Furtado, she made her seasonal return in the Ayr Gold Cup and conditions expected to be much more suitable on the Rowley Mile.

“She has come out of Ayr well, the ground was probably against her there,” said Furtado.

“She hadn’t run for a long time so I think she needed the run and she seems in great form at the moment.

“She was probably a bit unlucky in the same race last year and it would be nice if she could go and do a bit better this time around. We’re hoping for a big run.”