Ascot Saturday...2 future stars!

Japan out to lure Canford Cliffs to Kyoto

JAPAN is ready to put together an extraordinarily lavish bonus
package for Canford Cliffs in a bid to tempt the star
three-year-old miler to run at Kyoto next month, while the incentive has already convinced connections of Snow Fairy to run their dual Oaks winnerat the track a week earlier.

Officials at the Japan Racing Association are hoping that the
attraction of a huge financial reward for finishing in the first
three in the Mile Championship on November 21, balanced against a significant supplementary cost to enter the Breeders' Cup Mile, will sway Canford Cliffs's owners, who include BHA chairman Paul Roy's wife Susan.

Under an imaginative bonus system linked to major races in Britain, Canford Cliffs, as the winner of the Sussex Stakes, would double his prize-money from a first-three placing in the Mile Championship, where a win is worth the equivalent of £769,000.

Since finishing third to Mafki in the 2,000 Guineas, Canford Cliffs has reeled off a hat-trick in the Irish 2,000, St James's Palace Stakes and the Sussex.

Winning the Mile Championship would alone more than double his lifetime earnings, which stand at £645,951.

Aki Akitani, the JRA's chief representative in Paris, said on Monday: "It would be an honour to have such a good horse as Canford Cliffs run in Japan, because we believe he is the best miler in the world.

"We will do everything possible to make things easy for him and his connections to go to Kyoto, and the prize-money bonus should be a big attraction."

Akitani, who conceded that Britain would not have a runner in this year's Japan Cup, added that travel arrangements were being investigated.

He explained: "There is no direct cargo flight from the UK to Kyoto, but we are working on the transport.

"We need to find a satisfactory solution to bring a horse of Canford Cliffs's quality to Japan."

Free entry to the Mile Championship closes on Tuesday, but final entry is not until a week later.

Canford Cliffs was a late absentee from Ascot's Queen Elizabeth II Stakes after he scoped unsatisfactorily, but trainer Richard Hannon said last week that the colt's owners "seemed keen to have another run," and mentioned the Breeder's Cup, Japan and Hong Kong as possibilities.


Snow Fairy, who was rerouted to the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday week after plans were aborted to take her to France for the Prix de l'Opera at Longchamp because of the testing ground, will be aimed for a huge pot in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative at the Japanese track on November 14.

Explaining why he prefers an audacious tilt on Japan rather than follow the Ouija Board route and head for the Breeders' Cup, trainer Ed Dunlop said:

"The first prize for the Kyoto race, which is over a mile and three furlongs on turf, is £692,000, but the JRA will double that for certain Group 1 winners should they finish in the f irst three, and, being the Oaks winner, Snow Fairyqualifies, so we are looking at a pot of £1.384m if she should happen to win."

This should be a race not to be missed.

Frankel odds-on favourite for Dewhurst


CORAL have inserted Frankel as the 8-11 favourite to maintain his unbeaten run in the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes and add a success in Group 1 company to his exciting profile.

The 2,000 Guineas and Derby favourite and scintillating Royal Lodge winner heads the market for one of the most exciting Dewhursts in years, with dual Group 1 winner Dream Ahead, the 5-2 second favourite, and the Godolphin-owned Saamidd, who has to be supplemented for the race, among the possible opposition.



Saamidd's price of 5-1 reflects the esteem that he is held in and the three unbeaten colts look set to face off in a hugely exciting finale to their respective seasons.

"We've seen some terrific performances from several two-year-old colts already this season and, if the market principals all turn up for the Dewhurst, it should be a mouthwatering showdown, with the winner certain to head into winter quarters as hot favourite for the 2,000 Guineas," said Coral's David Stevens.

Stevens added: "However, it is a measure of how highly we rate Frankel that Henry Cecil's charge is odds-on for therace, even though he could face fellow unbeaten Group winners such as Dream Ahead and Saamidd."

Dunboyne Express and Native Khan, whose trainer Ed Dunlop said on Monday would be aimed at the race, are both available at 14-1, with a 20-1 bar for the rest of the possibles.

Coral 2011 2,000 Guineas betting
2-1 Frankel, 7-1 Dream Ahead, 8-1 Saamidd, 12-1 Pathfork, 14-1 Casamento, Wootton Bassett, 16-1 Zoffany, 20-1 Peter Martins, 25-1 Dunboyne Express, Fury, Native Khan, Strong Suit, 33-1 King Torus, Neebras