Shelby broadens smile on winning weekend
There have been four winners for Qatar Racing Limited in recent days, starting with Harbour Beacon who gained reward for his two runner-up efforts as a 2-year-old when making a winning reappearance in a middle-distance maiden at Dundalk on Friday evening.
By Tweenhills stallion Harbour Watch, Harbour Beacon did well to overcome some trouble in running and ultimately won with a bit up his sleeve. He's well regarded by his trainer Ger Lyons and will stay a mile and a half based on this evidence. Lyons also trained another recent QRL winner, Lightening Fast, who got off the mark at the fifth time of asking switched to a handicap at Navan on Monday evening. He's the first foal of Lightening Pearl, who memorably carried the Pearl Bloodstock colours to victory in the Gr. 1 Cheveley Park Stakes in 2011.
Lightening Pearl was ridden that day by Johnny Murtagh, who supplied QRL with a Saturday Irish winner when True Valour (pictured) made his own successful return in a seven-furlong maiden at Limerick. This colt also gained his reward for some strong efforts as a juvenile, notably when beaten just a short-head by the subsequent Dewhurst Stakes runner-up Lancaster Bomber at Leopardstown, and there are also more races to be won with him.
From Ireland, we turned our attentions to North America on Saturday evening, where the lightly-raced 4-year-old Shelbysmile got back to winning ways in an allowance race over the extended turf mile at Keeneland. Trained by Brendan Walsh, Shelbysmile showed a great attitude to prevail in a tight finish, taking her record to five wins from eight starts, and she deserves another go in stakes company.
Chemical Charge couldn't quite manage a win in the Gr. 3 Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Stakes (John Porter Stakes) at Newbury, finishing second, but it was a career-best effort in form terms and his first pattern-race success looks to be just around the corner. Though he idled late on, the first-time headgear was a help overall and there are plenty of options open to him in the coming months.
A mention should also go to Mother of Dragons, our first 2-year-old runner of the year in Britain and our first runner trained by Joseph Tuite - who showed lots of natural ability before being just touched off at Windsor on Monday.