Caspar Netscher captured a popular victory in the feature race, the Group 3 AON Greenham Stakes on day two of the Dubai Duty Free Spring Trials, marking a spectacular weekend start to Newbury’s Flat racing season.
The Alan McCabe trained, Caspar Netscher was ridden to a convincing victory by jockey Shane Kelly with Boomerang Bob ridden by Seb Sanders in second and favourite Bronterre ridden by Pat Dobbs finishing in third.
Trainer Ralph Beckett tasted success for the third time in The Dubai Duty Free Stakes (registered as the Fred Darling), with Moonstone Magic. The unbeaten Trade Fair filly relished the soft ground under a confident ride from Jim Crowley with Radio Gaga finishing second.
Favourite Harris Tweed triumphed in The Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Stakes (registered as the John Porter) for trainer William Haggas and jockey Liam Jones. This Group 3 win completed a treble over the weekend for the trainer.
Following in full brother Frankel’s footsteps, who won at this fixture last year, Noble Mission trained by Sir Henry Cecil and ridden by Tom Queally, won the first race of the day, The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Maiden Stakes.
Her Majesty The Queen returned for a second day and had two horses running. She braved the rain in the Parade Ring in a pea green coat to celebrate her 86th Birthday. Her horse Border Legend made the frame in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Maiden Stakes, running into third place. Her other runner, Sign Manual, was unplaced in the Bathwick Tyres Maiden Stakes.
Home Secretary, Theresa May took a tour of the Air Ambulance, Ambulance and Fire Services that were in attendance for the Emergency Services Family Fun Day which featured interactive displays and appearances from Fireman Sam and characters from City Of Friends throughout the day.
1,000 members of the ambulance, police, fire service and NHS were given free tickets for a day at the races in honour of their work.
Newbury Racecourse’s Managing Director of Racing & Events, Stephen Higgins commented: “This weekend kicked the Flat season off to a great start. We had a fantastic turn out of emergency services & NHS personnel and hopefully raised vital funds for the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance Service, which is such a valued resource for the horseracing industry and our wider community.”
14,000 racing fans visited Newbury over the weekend.
Pictured: Caspar Netscher – Caspar Netscher and Shane Kelly draw clear of rivals in the Group 3 AON Greenham Stakes; Moonstone Magic – Moonstone Magic and Jim Crowley winners of Group 3 The Dubai Duty Free Stakes (Registered as The Fred Darling Stakes); HRH The Queen – HRH The Queen braves the showers to visit the Parade Ring to watch her runners Sign Manual and Border Legend.
Allison is the Publisher of Eclipse Magazine. She loves going to the Races and is learning to bet (despite being officially the worst bettor in the History of the Universe), there’s a lot more to learn…
