Simon & Ed Crisford sent out two notable winners as the All-Weather Championships recommenced following a winter break, with Charlotte’s Web taking the BetMGM Winter Oaks Trial at Lingfield Park.
Lining up on the back of victories at Wolverhampton and Newcastle, Charlotte’s Web produced a strong finishing kick to wear down Elladonna and score by a neck.
She has been given a 4lb rise to 92 ahead of next month’s BetMGM Winter Oaks, a race her yard has won for the last two years with fellow trial winners Al Agaila and Oh So Grand.
A change of tactics did the trick for stable-mate Poker Face as he showed his class in the Listed Unibet Hyde Stakes at Kempton Park.
Successful at G2 level in France last year, he was given a patient ride by Harry Davies, with the duo delivering a sustained run to beat Roi De France by a length and a half.
Davies said: “Poker Face was the class horse in the race on paper. There was plenty of pace on and I had a wide draw [8], so I had to be brave and drop him in.
“Although we have never ridden him like that, I knew if they got racing a way from home, he was always going to find that turn of foot. Thankfully, he did, and it was a good performance.
“He has shown before that he is a classy type and, when he is in the right headspace, he has a lot of talent. Sometimes, it just depends on what side of the bed he wakes up on.”
Elsewhere, Listed winner Savvy Victory saw off Dark Moon Rising in a ding-dong finish to a 10-furlong handicap at Newcastle. Sean Woods’ winner had finished fourth in the Listed BetUK Churchill Stakes at the track last month.
The same Newcastle meeting witnessed an impressive introduction from Rogue Allegiance in a six-furlong novice, with David O’Meara’s juvenile stretching away to win by six lengths. The Kodiac colt could be out again in the New Year.
James Ferguson’s Cyclonite also put down a marker in the Three-Year-Old division as he comfortably annexed a six-furlong nursery at Kempton Park. His first start since being gelded, the handicapper has reacted with a 6lb rise to 86.
Santorini Star looks a filly to follow for William Haggas in the Middle Distance category. A half-sister to G1 winner Dreamloper, the daughter of Golden Horn has a revised rating of 83 after scoring readily on her handicap debut at Lingfield Park.
Unexposed stayer Dashing Panther received the most significant hike in the handicap this week, going up 8lb to 79 for his latest success at Chelmsford. William Stone’s five-year-old is unbeaten in two starts since stepping beyond a mile and a half.
Internationally, Deauville staged two more legs of France’s Polytrack Challenge, with ex Jean-Claude Rouget inmate Glaer taking the Listed Prix Lyphard on his first start for Pierre Groualle.
The Yann Barberot-trained Fast Raaj, who finished fourth in last season’s Mile Final, continued his fine strike-rate on the all-weather with a swooping success in the Listed Prix Luthier, a race he won previously in 2022.
Over in Ireland, En Or caught the eye as he easily defied a mark of 82 in a 10-furlong handicap at Dundalk. The six-year-old was making his first all-weather appearance since March, 2022.
